Sanctuary for the Strangers
by YUUdeParallel
Summary: A new faction of war is arising, promising hope and protection for those under its shelter – Harry Potter engages his own war with new comrades and allies. Post OotP, Creature! fic. Independent Harry. Slightly Manipulative Dumbledore. Slash, HP/SS/DM/LM.
1. Unusual Inheritance

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fanfic but the plot, characters and background belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**Post-OotP, disregards HBP and DH. Generally compliant with canon but with some differences in plot. Characters can be OOC because this is simply how I envision them to be :P**

**Warning: This is a creature!fic and slash fic. Pairing SS/LM/DM/HP, multiple mates, nothing graphic but fluffiness in future chapters to come.**

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**Chapter One: Unusual Inheritance**

Sirius was dead.

It was all his fault. If he had been more critical of the situation, none of the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries would have happened.

Why did he have to be so impulsive? If only he had thought longer and harder… _if only_. What good was "if only" when nothing he did now can bring Sirius back? He haven't even learnt much about his godfather, for Merlin's sake, he didn't even had a chance to have alone time with his godfather!

Harry Potter lay on his bed back in Privet Drive, flooded by his guilt that has yet to cease a month after the incident. He had few people to look upon as father figures in life; and with this blunder that cost Sirius' life, he doubted that he could even look at Remus in the face again.

He knew that Remus and Sirius were close friends, not in a sexual manner – he had once suspected but proven wrong –, but they were the last of the Marauders. And to know that the son of James had led to Sirius' end… he didn't know if Remus could take it.

He had tried to blame it on Snape, but he knew that it wasn't the man's fault at all; the man had tried to stop him but he didn't listen anyway. For once, he wished that he had taken Snape's advice but no, he just had to mess it all up.

Snape.

The thought of the man led to conflicted emotions. On one hand, he hated Snape for belittling him and making his life miserable in class. On the other hand, he understood perfectly why the man had done so – it took little effort to understand the feelings of a bullied victim, after all, he had been one and, in some aspects, still is one.

Merlin, even he himself had hated his father and Sirius for being such a bully in school when he watched the pensive memories! It wasn't just friendly rivalry or pranking, it was utter humiliation. To think that he once admired his father and all…

Yes, that hurt the most. Knowing that his father, the appraised Gryffindor, was nothing but a bully in school, and worse, his father had basked in the glory of it, not knowing how horrible it was to be on the receiving end. Everybody spoke of James Potter as some sort of epitome of Gryffindor, brave and self-sacrificing, humourous and intelligent; why had no one tell him what he was actually like in school?

"A true Gryffindor, eh?" Harry smiled bitterly as he fingered the photo album he had hidden under his bed – he had managed to salvage his stuff before Uncle Vernon attempted to lock it in the cupboard.

Sirius was so much like his father – at least what little he knew of James, fun-loving and energetic, but he couldn't get over his childish rivalry with Snape, even after enduring twelve years in Azkaban. And Remus, he was supposed to be the level-headed one! Of course, he was courteous towards Snape and everyone else, but he did nothing to stop the Sirius from his unfounded hatred.

He had debated the thought of writing a letter of apology to Snape, about his own mistakes over the past five years and on behalf of his father and Sirius. However, knowing the man, he would probably think that it was some prank or joke and sneer at whatever was in the letter. If he wanted to get the message across, he'd probably have to do it personally face-to-face – if his courage didn't falter after seeing the man, that is.

Speaking of letters, his mood inevitably turned dark. He had not received any letters from his friends since the holidays started, well, not counting the one he got from Hermione two days into the holidays stating that they would give him his privacy and time to grief for Sirius. His guess was that Dumbledore had told them that he needed time to himself, and probably, that it was too dangerous to risk their letters being intercepted. At least that was the reason he was told to leave a very unhappy Hedwig with the Weasleys.

Privacy? Harry snorted in disbelief. When had that ever mattered between the three of them? They were best friends, if they aren't supposed to talk and share, what bloody else are they supposed to do?

He was desperate to talk to someone, someone who wouldn't mind listening to him ranting about all these thoughts, someone who could guide him, tell him what was wrong with his life!

He had read all his textbooks in attempt to escape his overwhelming emotions – but it just didn't work! He read those texts so thoroughly he could even remember all those bloody potions ingredients in the encyclopaedia he took from Grimmauld Place in a fit of impulsivity. But once his mind wasn't occupied with those texts, everything simply washed over him.

His nightmares were getting worse – he kept seeing Sirius falling through the veil again and again, the look of complete shock frozen on his face. And he heard voices – his father's, his mother's, Sirius, Cedric, and everyone else – whispering to him, moaning about the unfairness of life, reprimanding him for his role in their deaths.

_If only you died. If only you weren't born._

He can still remember the unusual hardness and chill of the tone his father and mother used. It sent him screaming awake, shuddering in fear and weariness, and unfortunately woke everyone else in the house – he kept stubbornly quiet when Uncle Vernon had hit him, but he couldn't stop shuddering when the words Uncle Vernon spewed coincided with his nightmares.

_Freak. Unworthy. It was better if you were never here._

He looked at the clock. 11.58 pm. Two minutes to his birthday.

He doubted that his presents would be here. Since Dumbledore deemed it unsafe to send letters, presents and parcels are unlikely to come through as well – even Mrs. Weasley's care package wasn't here.

Well, it wasn't as if there was much to celebrate anyway. His birthday marked the reason for the death of his parents.

As much as he loathed to admit, Sirius' death was a damn strong wake-up call. He was forced to think about a lot of things over the past month: his parents' death, the prophecy, Dumbledore, his friends, Sirius, Remus, the Wizarding World, the Ministry. He wondered just how much information was being kept away from him? The prophecy was surely something that he should have known of, but no, Dumbledore only saw fit to tell him after the whole Ministry debacle. What else had the headmaster kept to himself?

And there was the problem of being a Muggle-raised wizard. Everyone expected him to know things just because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, but how in Merlin's beard was he supposed to know anything at all, when he was no different from a Muggleborn?

The clock struck twelve, and Harry quirked a brow, "Well, Happy Birthday to m- wha…umph!"

It started as a tingling sensation on his back, and escalated quickly from there. He was no stranger to pain, but this was _different_. It was the familiar feeling of magic coursing through his body, but it was rough and raw, burning through his skin, threatening to tear out of his skin.

He fell to the ground, and desperately tried to muffle his screams by biting on the back of his hand – it would do no good to rouse the Dursleys now.

His ears were on fire; his spine felt as though it was twisting; his back was seared. Magic was running through every inch of his body, and wherever it passed, it left a sensation of rawness, as if his skin had been brutally ripped off and hot water plunged onto exposed flesh.

It was an _inferno_.

He couldn't even bring himself to scream out loud at this point, the heat and pain consumed his consciousness, and he could only _feel_. He curled tightly into himself, frantically grabbing his forearms to assure himself that his limbs were still intact.

_Am I dying?_

When he finally came back into his senses, he glanced at the clock, only to realise that it was only 12.30 am, instead of hours that he had thought it was.

Grabbing onto the bedstand, he pulled himself from the ground, managing to stagger to his bed before his legs gave out. He was sore and aching all over, but his back, especially, was feeling the worst. With a sudden realisation, he found that he could see things clearly when his glasses were left on the floor – probably knocked off when he was writhing in pain.

But before he could contemplate any other changes, there was a tap at the window.

A regal eagle owl stared at him through the window, tapping the glass impatiently as Harry made no move to open the barriers to its delivery.

He staggered a few steps toward the window and finally managed to open it after fumbling with the latch for a few moments. The owl landed on his shoulders and stretched out its feet, looking expectantly at its recipient.

Had his friends managed to send him letters after all?

Harry was confused as he relieved the owl of its duty, turning the fine parchment over, only to see it sealed with the Gringotts seal. Seeing that the owl had no intention of leaving yet, he fished out a few dry crackers from his secret stash and offered it to the owl. With a close examination of the crackers on his palm, it nibbled a few crumbles before leaping off his shoulder to land on the bedstand.

Harry shrugged; it was probably instructed to wait for a reply – whatever the matter was.

Unrolling the parchment and reading swiftly across the lines – the only other fortunate outcome of reading his textbooks and stuff was an improved speed reading skill – Harry quirked a brow as he comprehended the implications of the message.

**_Lord Harry James Potter-Black (inheritance yet to be confirmed and received),_**

**_It has come to our attention that Sirius Black has indicated you as the heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black in his will, and with the execution of this will, we would also like to draw your attention towards receiving your inheritance from the Ancient and Noble House of Potter._**

**_An inheritance ritual is required to further confirm your eligibility to other fortunes by conquer and magical choice. We seek your attendance with us as soon as possible to settle all matters as stated above. Please reply with a suitable date and time for an appointment._**

**_Gringotts Manager,_**

**_Ragnok._**

Potter… Black. Sirius had named him as the Black heir? He didn't… but he didn't deserve it! He hadn't done anything to deserve Sirius' affection, he condemned the man to his death – how could Sirius have…? There weren't any signs or indication at all, that Sirius chose to leave everything with him. But then again, his contact with Sirius was extremely limited, with Sirius cooped up in Grimmauld Place and him trying to survive the hell that was Umbridge at Hogwarts…

Harry sighed deeply. Perhaps it was time for him to try and figure out what was going on around him. He had delayed this long enough, Merlin, he hadn't even realise that he would have to take up the responsibility of Lord Potter alone, not to mention _Lord Potter-Black _now.

He pulled a piece of blank parchment from under his bed and settled to write a reply. While he pondered about the words to write, he started petting the owl – now perching onto his table beside his inkwell – absentmindedly, earning an affectionate preening from the owl.

"Hey there, would you mind carrying another letter for me to Flourish and Blotts?" He ruffled its feathers gently, "I know your duty was to get a reply from me to Gringotts, but Hedwig isn't here with me now…" His voice faltered.

That was one of the reason he felt especially dreadful this summer. Hedwig was his only friend and talking companion when he was locked up in the room, she couldn't reply back but she could always offer comfort. Sometimes he even felt that she understood his every word perfectly, her soulful eyes staring at him with empathy and affection, perching onto his shoulders and preening his hair when he felt emotionally vulnerable.

A sharp nip to his fingers snapped him out of his thoughts. The owl stared at him disapprovingly, and nipped his fingers again, softer this time, while hooting quietly.

"Is that a yes?" Watching the owl give an affirmative hoot, Harry petted it on its head and gave a small smile, "Then I better start writing now, shouldn't I? Just give me a moment."

Twirling the quill between his fingers, he paused for a few seconds before writing.

**_Honourable Ragnok,_**

**_May your gold always flow and your enemies suffer in agony._**

**_I would like to set up an appointment on 4__th__ August, preferably in the morning. I would appreciate it if a mode of transportation to Gringotts could be arranged._**

**_I await your response,_**

**_Harry James Potter-Black._**

He read the letter again and paused – where did that line of greeting come from? He had written it by pure intuition, but it sounded alright. _Almost too right_.

He shrugged it off again as he pulled yet another piece of blank parchment to pen a note to Flourish and Blotts.

**_Dear sir,_**

**_I find myself in need of books on Wizarding etiquette as I am about to assume the position of Family Head. I trust your favourable reputation in the sale of magical books and your judgement of books to best fit customers' needs._**

**_Please send me your recommended books, or list of books, on the requested topic, and I will arrange for the required funds to be handled. Your promptness is most appreciated._**

**_May Her blessings be endowed upon you,_**

**_Harry James Potter._**

He stared at the finished note – just where did that blessing stemmed from? It was confusing, he had no idea where and when had he encountered it, but it felt almost natural, and most logical. Oh well, it sounded fine, he supposed.

After addressing the recipients onto the sealed scrolls, he tied it gently to the owls' leg. "Bring this to the manager of Flourish and Blotts, and this to Ragnok, would you?"

The owl nipped his fingers once more before taking flight into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness.

Harry kept away his writing equipment tiredly and lay back onto his bed; it was a hell of a night. Picking up the mirror that Sirius gave to him but never had a chance to use; he stared at his reflection in utter shock.

His face was the same alright, although his facial features seemed to be finer than it usually was – or was that an effect of him losing his appetite? But his ears were slightly elongated and pointed, and his eyes had an almost ethereal glow to it, and his hair, now that he had realised it, grew beyond his shoulders, ending just beneath his lower back.

He jumped to his feet, almost forgetting the soreness of his muscles until he grimaced with the movement, and stared at the mirror in his room. It seemed as though there wasn't a change in height – was a little growth spurt too much to hope for now? – but there was a slight difference in his complexion, his skin looks a little fairer now, which incidentally seem to make his bruises and scars stand out.

Curious about the burning sensation on his back earlier, he pulled off his oversized T-shirt as he turned to look at his back in the mirror.

A tattoo. _A bloody tattoo_?

The tattoo extended from his shoulder bones down to his hips, spanning across his entire back, filling it with green markings joined with golden swirls. It looked like twigs entwined, like flames blazing, like a river flowing, as if it was fluid and changing.

What was this? Nobody talked about transforming and growing tattoos on their sixteenth birthday! Or was this some sort of joke?

Sifting through all information he had read from his textbooks and a few other books he had taken from Grimmauld Place, and after a few internal struggles, he came to a belated conclusion that he probably had some sort of dormant elf blood in his family, but so little was known about elves! And why wasn't he told that he had elf blood somewhere inside of him?

_Calm down, Harry. Think, what to do now? I can't let the Dursleys see this…_

He dug out a book on charms and desperately hoped that he wouldn't be tried again for using underage magic… He would come up with an excuse when it comes to that; he just needed to find that glamour charm he had seen a few days before right now.

Flipping through the pages quickly, he found the desired charm and studied it for a while. Grabbing his wand, he practiced the wand movements a few times, before quietly muttering the incantation while picturing what he used to look like – not that it was that difficult.

What caught him by surprise was the swiftness and readiness that his magic had responded to his wishes, he could almost feel the magic surging from his core eagerly to meet his needs, channelling through his wand smoothly – it usually required a little push or force before – it felt so soothing.

Feeling the magic settle on his face and back, he anxiously turned to look at the mirror, satisfied to find his old self looking back rather meekly.

He stashed all his items back under his bed as he awaited the dreaded letter from the Ministry – until he realised that no letters were coming after two hours of sitting stoically on his bed. Reclining back, he sighed and decided to leave it as that.

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**Read and Review please :D**

**YUU**


	2. Unexpected Changes

**I must admit I was really surprised with the number of follows/favourites, although I really would have liked to see more reviews... *puppy eyes***

**Thank you SoraMalfoySlythern for being my first reviewer! Can I safely assume that you are generally intrigued by the story then? *giggles* So here I am to give you more :D**

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**Chapter 2: Unexpected Changes**

Harry awoke to a tapping sound on his window pane the next morning. Blinking blearily, he turned towards the window, only to find two owls waiting impatiently outside. One of them was the eagle owl he had seen the night before, but the other was an unfamiliar owl.

He could feel all blood draining from his face – had the Ministry letter arrived to tell him that he was expelled from school?

Opening the window to allow both birds to fly into his room, he had to duck as the unfamiliar owl flew above his head across the room, causing some of his stuff perched on top of the tiny wardrobe to topple down.

"What is that noise, boy?! You better not be doing freakish things up there!" He flinched as he heard Uncle Vernon bellowing from downstairs.

Leaning against the door, he called back a reply with utmost effort to make it sound sincere, "I- I'm sorry, I fell over!"

"Come down and make breakfast in ten minutes, boy! And you better not wake Dudley up with any more ruckuses!"

He released a breath he wasn't aware of holding as Uncle Vernon decided not to come up and "discipline" him as he saw fit. Staring at the owl reproachfully, he protested lightly, "Couldn't you come in a little more quietly? I'll be in real danger if you make any more noise, you know… Not to mention what he'll do when he sees owls in my room…"

Relieving both owls of their load, he missed the swipe the eagle owl gave the other as he studied the seals on both letters. Realising that they were replies from Gringotts and Flourish and Blotts, Harry instantly relaxed. At least it wasn't the Ministry. Maybe they didn't realise that he used magic? After the incident in the Department of Mysteries, they might be still caught up with damage-control? Well, he could always hope.

Ripping open the seal on the Gringotts letter, he was glad to find that a portkey was provided.

**_Lord Harry James Potter-Black,_**

**_May your honour be upheld, and your enemies fall to your feet. The Goblin Nation is honoured to serve one that follows the Old ways. May we further our acquaintance on the day we meet._**

**_In this letter we include a 2-way portkey that is set to activate on 9am, 4_****_th_****_ August to Gringotts, and activated again by the keyword "remigro" to your point of departure._**

**_We await your attendance in most delightful pleasure._**

**_Gringotts Manager,_**

**_Overlord Ragnok Silvertooth._**

Harry raised a brow as he pondered upon the tone of the letter. The Old ways? So the greeting that he had invoked unknowingly in the last letter was of the Old? He remembered one of the purebloods muttering about the Old ways in Hogwarts the year before, but he had no idea what it was. And now he had to figure out how he managed to write that out on the last letter, when the Goblins apparently expected something similar from him during the appointment to come.

_Great, just great, Harry Potter, you've just managed to make things more complicated._

Sighing softly, he left the letter on the table and turned to open the other letter. Instead of a book list he expected, a round disk was placed within the rolled parchment, which he nearly dropped as he unrolled the letter to read.

**_Lord Harry James Potter,_**

**_I would be delighted to be of service, and truly appreciate your trust in our reputation. I have selected 8 books for your reference regarding wizarding etiquette and the roles of a Lord, and 2 books on wizarding politics, as I believe that the Potters hold seats in the Wizengamot._**

**_The mentioned books are included in the portium attached to this letter. To retrieve the books, simply place the portium on a surface and tap it three times with your wand. If you are satisfied with the books, please sign your name below and it would transfer to our contract and allow us to retrieve the funds from Gringotts. It is a rare, but nonetheless standard procedure of owl-order._**

**_If you require further assistance for any books, please do not hesitate to owl us._**

**_May our gratitude shine upon you as Her blessings do._**

**_Flourish and Blotts Supervisory Manager,_**

**_Malcolm Ivan Flopsav._**

Harry placed the round disk on the desk, that seemed to be the portium mentioned, after keeping the Gringotts letter away, and tapped the disk lightly three times.

A stack of books appeared immediately beside the portium. He flipped through the first few books, and found them informative yet concise, without the flowery descriptive language that he had expected to read. Maybe his desperation was somehow detected from his letter sent? Well, he could speed read, but deciphering long and half-of-the-words-flowery-and-probably-meaningless sentences required so much more effort.

Realising that he had yet to offer the owls something to eat, he rummaged through his stash to pull out another few crackers before extending it apologetically, "I'm sorry, this is all I have now."

The eagle owl from before nibbled on the crackers immediately, while the other stared at the offered crackers disdainfully before taking a nip as the eagle owl nudged it forcefully.

Pulling the letter from Flourish and Blotts back towards him, Harry signed his name in the space below the parchment, only to see it shimmer brightly as a sign of acceptance. Grabbing a spare piece of parchment, he scribbled another note, deciding that he might as well just get the books on magical creatures and elves to read before his Gringotts trip.

_Just in case it triggers some unknown reaction with the inheritance ritual… Knowing my luck, something's about to muck up then._

After attaching the portium to the short note, he tied the letter onto the owl's leg before watching it take off out from the window. Turning back, he found the eagle owl watching him intently from its perch on the chair.

"Hey there, are you going off soon? I could bring you something else later if you're not leaving now," Harry offered, planning to steal a few pieces of bacon off Dudley's breakfast.

_Well, I'm the one who's doing the cooking, anyway._

The owl looked at him for a few moments, before bobbing its head twice and tucking its head under its wing, showing that it's not moving anytime soon.

Humming quietly as he made his way down to the kitchen, he sighed softly. At least he had a little companionship to look forward to now.

* * *

**1****st**** September, Hogwarts Start-of-Term Feast.**

Potter looked different.

Draco Malfoy observed the Gryffindor table discreetly, allowing his gaze to follow Harry Potter's movements lazily. He had just came into his Veela inheritance over the summer, and he had been quite proficient at controlling his newfound powers, that no one else, save for a few close friends, or allies for that matter, had realised yet. His parents had filed a divorce after he came into inheritance since he is recognised as an adult and no longer required the protection of his parents.

He understood perfectly that his parents were close friends, but never lovers. They married in accordance to the betrothal contract drawn by their parents, and stayed together for his sake – well, at least until his majority. Narcissa still stayed at the Malfoy Manor, but they no longer needed to uphold the appearance of a loving couple. Lucius is a Veela as well, and he has yet to find a mate.

_And all those people out there keep thinking that fate chooses a Veela's mate._ Draco snorted softly, _all those romanticised images of a Veela stumbling over his or her mate and falling heads over heels for someone they may not even know… Only idiots would buy into that._

Veelas choose their mates entirely out of personal preference. When they find a potential partner as their Chosen, they start the Courting and the Display, only after being accepted that they consider their partner as their Mate, their Beloved.

Turning his attention back to Potter, he narrowed his eyes in contemplation. Potter is definitely different, not mentioning the glamours on his face and back – wizarding glamours are less effective toward magical beings, while they are unable to see through it, they can sense its presence – although Draco wondered why in Merlin's beard would someone need to apply glamours on their backs; it was his behaviour that was most different.

The way he walked and held himself was different – he no longer had a slouch, and his movements were swift and silent, his expressions freely shown but the extent to which are well-controlled, and he ate with a grace (especially in contrast with his housemates – how could anyone stand the Weasel, Draco could never understand).

Pansy nudged him gently and whispered, "Potter's changed… he behaves almost like a pureblood now."

Draco nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to admit, but yes, Potter's behaviour was almost perfect for a pureblood. The changes weren't obvious, not even half of his housemates would notice the differences, but it was there; and the reason to which he was curious.

"What do you think happened?" Theodore had also observed the changes, and asked in a low murmur, "Did we miss something important?"

Draco narrowed his eyes, Slytherins were always well-informed of the happenings in the Wizarding world – to not know what caused the change was a blow to their reputation.

"He went back to his muggle family after the whole incident at the Department of Mysteries," Draco provided input.

"Maybe something happened back with his relatives?" Blaise offered.

Pansy shook her head, "Not likely. He's behaving like a pureblood, I doubt the muggles know a single thing about our customs or etiquette to begin with."

"Draco, did your father mention anything about the incident?" Theodore looked at him over his goblet of pumpkin juice.

Shaking his head lightly, Draco answered, "Father was most reluctant to share the details of the Dark Lord's plan for the Ministry raid."

"I wonder why…" Pansy frowned slightly in consideration.

Draco shrugged, his father had been rather distressed lately, especially after Death Eater meetings. He had frequent late-night discussions with his Godfather, Severus, although Draco was kept away from the contents of their discussions. He was hoping that the proximity of his Father would allow him to be learn of the source of his Father's distress, especially since he accepted the post of–

"Students, I would like to have your attention please." Dumbledore's voice travelled across the dining hall as he started to make his announcements.

"First Years should know that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students – although some of the older years may need a little reminder."

Draco smirked, _at least the Weasley twin devils are gone now._

"Magic is not permitted along the corridors and a number of items are prohibited from the school grounds – the full list may be checked on Mr. Filch's office door. Prohibited items will be confiscated and detention served."

Smiling and turning towards the staff table, the Headmaster's eyes twinkled merrily, "And I am delighted to introduce Mr. Lucius Malfoy, who will be the new Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Students, let us all welcome Professor Malfoy to Hogwarts!"

Draco glanced over to the Gryffindor Table. As he expected, many of the Gryffindors looked bewildered and disgruntled. He knew that Father would not be entirely welcome when he accepted the Headmaster's offer to fill in the vacancy. Dumbledore had offered him the job as a gesture of trust when Lucius defected to the Light side, although the Headmaster had requested him to retain his guise as part of Voldemort's Inner Circle for intelligence purposes. That had infuriated Draco, he knew the dangerous position his Godfather was placed in, and now his own Father had to tread the fine line as well!

The Slytherins' response was largely neutral, not too assessing but not entirely supportive either. Pansy nudged him again roughly in the ribs, as he followed her gaze back to the Gryffindor Table, he quirked his brow in surprise. Potter had a ghost of smile flickering across his face after he heard the announcement before turning to respond quietly to whatever antics Weasel was rousing.

He had thought that the Golden Boy, of all people, should have the greatest objection towards his Father filling the post. But as the Slytherins continued to watch the Gryffindor Table, they realised that the Saviour of the Wizarding World seemed to be taking the news rather well, it was his housemates, especially Ronald Weasley, who were ranting and raving about it.

_Interesting_, the corners of his lips twitched in fascination. _Perhaps it would be worthwhile to continue observing for the time being._

Blaise cocked his head as he looked over the table, "Potter wasn't especially close to Longbottom last year, was he?"

Pansy nodded but frowned as she saw Potter lean closer to Longbottom and the both of them shared a few words, "They seem awfully friendly now, though."

Theodore agreed. There seems to be a clear ranking of power within the Gryffindor House – Potter's bound to be the leader in the House now, if he hadn't been in that position before, the Seventh Years wouldn't even stand a chance against him. Then again, the Gryffindors being their extremely dense selves, probably wouldn't even sense anything different.

"I wonder why Potter wasn't chosen as prefect this year, though," Pansy pursed her lips, "I can't believe Weasley _still_ has the badge."

Draco silently agreed. Weasley didn't even take his role as prefect seriously for the entire Fifth Year; although Draco himself admits to not living up to prefect standards the previous year, but he knew that he was acting little stupid and pompous last year, and he's not about to repeat that and allow that Granger to reprimand him about it, or to bring shame to his Father and family name either.

Blaise stretched his arms gracefully as he mused, "Since Umbridge is gone, Potter's probably reinstated onto the Quidditch team, isn't it? Who else would be captain, if not Potter?"

"Good to know that you have such confidence in Potter, then," Draco replied dryly.

"Seeker rivalry? Oh, Draco, I thought you were better than that," Pansy teased.

Draco glared at her half-heartedly as a roll of parchment appeared beside his plate. Picking it up gingerly, he stole a glance at the Teacher's Table before opening it below the table.

**_Draco, _**

**_Meet us in my quarters after the Feast. Remain discreet._**

**_LM_**

Raising his brows as he looked at his Father and Godfather at the Table, he saw his Father nod stiffly at him, his expression solemn. Draco swallowed nervously, that expression always spelled disaster, either he did something wrong, or matters regarding the Dark Lord and Dumbledore went very badly.

"Problems, Draco?" Theodore inquired softly.

He gave an expression of indifference and shrugged slightly. He would know soon enough.

* * *

Draco slowly made his way up to the Third Floor. He had thought that the Headmaster would allocate quarters closer to the dungeons, seeing that his Father and Godfather frequently needed to exchange information on their dual status, but it ended being near to nowhere, not even the DADA classrooms.

"Yes? Password?" The man in the portrait on the door glanced briskly from his book to Draco.

Draco stared. His Father had apparently forgotten to give him the password in the hastiness of the message. "Father told me to meet him in his quarters, is he in there?"

"Yes," The man nodded, "He did mention his son coming to visit." The portrait eased open as he spoke. "Do remember to provide the password next time though."

Draco stepped inside only to observe grave silence in the room. His Father and Godfather were both sitting in chairs near the hearth, both solemnly silent.

"Father, Uncle Severus."

"Ah, Draco, you've come." Lucius nodded at him and snapped his fingers, ordering a house elf to bring another drink forward, "Do sit down. We may have… very serious issues to discuss."

Cautiously sitting down, Draco wondered what had made both men extremely serious.

"Draco, you do know about the Initiation?" Lucius started mildly.

Draco froze in his seat, panicking inwardly. The Initiation? "The ritual the Dark Lord marks new followers and measures them up to their ranks?"

Lucius nodded once, and continued heavily, "I have tried to stall your Initiation for as long as possible, but the Dark Lord had just issued an ultimatum to me. I'm sorry, son, I had intended to protect you from this fate but…"

Lucius may appear to be cold and distant in public, but Draco understands that his Father loves him dearly, it was just public appearances that he had to uphold to protect the Malfoy reputation, and emotions was seen as a sign of vulnerability between many pureblood families, especially the elitists – or rather, the Dark-inclined families.

"What did Professor Dumbledore say about it?" Draco tried to keep a cool demeanour but he knew that he was failing miserably.

Severus shook his head tiredly, "We have not told the Headmaster about this. Knowing Albus, there is a possibility he may ask you to take on the responsibility of yet another spy in the Dark Lord's ranks."

He couldn't stop himself from paling visibly. He definitely did not want to serve that- that insane self-proclaimed Dark Lord, he saw both his Father and Godfather after Death Eater raids and meetings, the torture and killings that they had to perform and endure… he had no intention of following that life!

"Until when?" his voice faltered.

"Before Yuletide," Lucius sighed heavily.

"Is there- is there anything we can do to prevent this?"

Lucius and Severus exchanged a look, "I'm really sorry, Draco. Maybe we can work to keep you from most of the raids, but-"

A smart rap at the windows stopped him in mid-sentence. A falcon was hovering at the windows, staring at the three of them expectantly.

Lucius raised a brow upon seeing the bird – a Gryfalcon? It was a bird of prey commonly associated to royalty and painfully expensive to own, not to mention that they were difficult to tame and train. Focusing his attention on the claws of the falcon, he narrowed his eyes. Sending a letter with a trained Gryfalcon, the message must be extremely important then.

Opening the windows to allow the Gryfalcon to fly into the room, it landed on the back of his seat and ruffled its feathers before stretching its leg to offer the letter.

Severus eyebrows furrowed as Lucius detached the letter from the falcon. As he broke the seal, he felt a light wash of magic flow through him, which alerted Severus to draw his wand and glare at the letter, "What was that?"

"Identity charms. If the letter wasn't intended to me, I wouldn't want to know what will happen," Lucius replied, feeling his curiosity peak at the security measures.

"Wha-?" Severus squawked somewhat indignantly as a Golden Eagle soared through the open window and headed straight for him, stretching its leg out towards him as it hovered in the air before him.

Even Draco raised a brow this time, both letters were probably from the same sender, and it was obvious that the sender is rather cautious about letters being intercepted to require an eagle and falcon to send forth – not to mention that both predatory birds were regarded of royal status in the art of falconry.

As Severus broke the seal, he too felt a wave a magic flow unobtrusively through him, confirming his identity as the intended recipient.

Even before reading the letters, they came to a similar conclusion: whoever the sender was, and whatever the missive was about, it must be of utmost importance.

* * *

**And this chapter ends here! The idea of the Sanctuary will be introduced in the next chapter! Review, please? Pretty please?**

**YUU**


	3. A New Alliance

**Kisses for all my reviewers 3! And of course, for those who followed and favourited the story :D**

**neverfall16, think-pink-jess, Shadow Stalker7 - I'm glad that you find the story interesting! I'm not that much of a narrative writer (academic writing is meant to be boring, right? *winks*), I hope I don't let you down :)**

**Bond One - Yupp, I love Malfoys+Snape+Harry stories too! But there are only so few of them...**

**Stardust of Orion - The relationship part probably wouldn't start that soon, I'm trying to lay out all the settings and smoothen the relationship between Harry and the Slytherins first. Hmm, it is rather obvious that Harry is the sender, isn't it? But well, I didn't mean to hide it from the readers, anyway ;) Eagle Owl? The Eagle Owl mentioned in Chapters 1 and 2 is the Gringotts owl, but Harry's using a Gryfalcon and Golden Eagles to send his letters for the Sanctuary.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: A New Alliance**

Lucius opened the letter to read, well aware of his son's intent gaze on his expression. The elegant script on the scroll caught his eye first, before he delved into the contents of the writing.

**_Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy,_**

**_May your path be smooth and hardships few, cum ductu matris magicae*._**

**_I have learnt of a recent change in allegiances and seek to offer help. While I understand that you may be suspicious of my intentions for this letter – your suspicions are well-grounded – I assure you that I mean no harm. My identity cannot be exposed now for many reasons, one of which is that it may undermine your trust in me. For safety purposes, I have included a few charms on the seal and letter, as well as a different mode of delivery, to minimise possibility of it being intercepted by undesirable hands. If we are to continue exchanges, I would require you to take similar precautions as well – the name I assume in this letter is equivalent to my true identity._**

**_The Dark Lord's reign must be put to an end, he is terrorising Purebloods, Half-bloods, Muggleborns and Muggles alike, a problematic situation I'm certain that you are well aware of. On his venture to "better" the Wizarding World, he has committed many sins, of hypocrisy, of that against innocence, and of utmost vileness. Your change of alliance is delayed, but most understandably due to the need protect your family and the lack of an alternative._**

**_Albus Dumbledore is the recognised leader of the Light, his group of soldiers that is the Order of the Phoenix has led several instances of victories for the Light. I understand that you have turned to him for guidance and protection. However, Albus Dumbledore and his Order are unlikely to bring victory over the Dark Lord. They have been largely reactionary, and had not addressed the problems in which the roots of the problems lay. The Wizarding World at whole is kept wilfully ignorant of discrimination and a lack of order in society – a successful ideological control on behalf of the Ministry – and thus signifies the ultimate downfall in general. Even if the Dark Lord is brought to an end by holding on to the hope that the Child of Prophecy miraculously wields enough power to defeat him, it wouldn't be long before the next Dark Lord rises._**

**_The Wizarding World is at fault. They have allowed themselves to become bleating sheep following orders blindly and believing nonsense that the Daily Prophet drivels. Purebloods rejects muggleborns from entering and participating in the Wizarding World, but those whom deserve the contempt are those whom abruptly pull 11-year-old muggleborns into a world void of all their established beliefs and norms, without guidance to the simplest of Wizarding traditions, and left to their own devices. Have most of the purebloods forgotten the teachings of matre magia**? It is not blood that dictates power, but magic itself that dictates power. I hope not that you have fallen to this fault._**

**_What I am proposing is a Third Side to the war, a Neutral side, a Sanctuary, if you must, that accepts all who hope for a change in the Wizarding World. We have allies, those often overlooked by the Wizarding population, and with it I offer protection, from either the pressures of the Dark Lord, or the manipulations of the Light; it is not required that you contribute to our causes, but refraining from either supporting the Dark, or assisting the manipulations of the Light is appreciated. I am unable to provide more information lest the content be spilled to unwanted ears, if you are inclined to join, tap the letter with your wand twice while reciting the words "We are Strangers to these lands and seek refuge in the Old, Sancta Nosta". Further correspondence will be provided; but be warned, the gesture is to swear an oath to secrecy, and traitors would suffer in extreme agony._**

**_May Her Blessings be endowed upon you,_**

**_Si'Ariadw'r._**

"Well, that was… quite enlightening," Lucius mused, seeing that Severus has finished reading his own letter as well, "I assume that you have received the letter from the same person as I have? A Third Side?"

"Indeed, it is rather interesting," Severus agreed.

Draco frowned, "What were the letters about?" He asked, while eyeing the two birds in the room warily, they were watching the exchange in the room intently, which was giving him quite the creeps.

"It proposes a neutral side to the war, and…" Lucius exchanged a glance with Severus, the most attractive part of the missive was _that _part, "offers sanctuary to those who do not wish to comply to the orders of the Dark Lord and Dumbledore."

Draco stilled as he allowed that piece of information to be processed, but couldn't stop himself from spurting out disbelievingly, "What?"

_This seems almost too good to be true,_ Draco thought bitterly, "So who sent the letter?"

"He – I'm assuming it is a _he_ – prefers to conceal his identity before we make a decision about joining him or not," Severus replied, _although he may not even reveal himself after that, he certainly didn't seem willing to expose his identity._

"We have absolutely no idea who is it, then?"

"He is indeed extremely cautious: the eagle and the falcon give us no clue about the sender, the handwriting doesn't seem familiar, and he even de-scented the parchment and disguised his magical signature," Lucius' tone betrayed his look of indifference, "although I wonder why he went as far as to de-scent the letter, it is an unusual move."

Severus smiled faintly, "We might get an idea who it is if there was still a lingering scent there."

Draco agreed. Veelas have extraordinarily sharp senses relative to normal humans, and they are able to distinguish between persons based on scent, or even voice alone. His father and he would have been able to at least discern whether they have met the sender before or not.

Severus, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. He wasn't a Veela, but a Shadow Daemon, a close kin to Vampires – the students circulating the rumours accusing him of being one was rather close. Their senses were exceptional, and even better during the night, or in dark places.

"Perhaps it was a person used to dealing with magical creatures and beings?" Draco offered.

"Perhaps," Lucius slowly agreed.

Severus pressed a finger to his temples, "The question, however, is whether we should join him or not. If we join, we might be able to work around Albus' orders, although he might be suspicious of us eventually; but we will not be able to refuse the Dark Lord's orders directly or indirectly." His face darkened as his gaze moved towards his left forearm.

"He mentioned protection… how far can the protection extend to?" Lucius pondered aloud, "Is there a possibility that there is a way to dull the mark or wards to prevent the summoning? He is aware that we have been Marked and defected to the Light, he should have planned for it in recruiting us."

"And if he doesn't, we will be subjected to yet another binding," Severus frowned.

Draco could feel a little hope simmering, "But it is likely that he has devised a plan, isn't it? The birds, the charms and precautions, it is well thought out."

"True, Draco," Lucius agreed, "But we cannot be certain whether this is a true opportunity or just a ruse." _And if it is a ruse, I would be extremely curious to know how he acquired the information of our allegiances._

"Yet his knowledge of the Old Traditions is astonishing, his greetings and references to Mother Magic shows that he is well versed in the Old Ways. And his perspective on the Wizarding World is very insightful, the ideas he proposes are… interesting," Lucius skimmed through his letter again. "He even berates purebloods – with a snide comment implying myself – for asserting unfounded superiority over the muggleborns."

Draco squawked as Severus smirked, "He did what?"

"True though, what he says, _it is not blood that dictates power, but magic itself that dictates power,_" Lucius conceded, "Purebloods pride themselves over their magic and their reverence to traditional rituals renewing their connections to Mother Magic, but most of these ideas are lost and based solely on blood purity now."

"Oh," was all Draco said. He wasn't actually one of those blood supremacists, but he was at fault for basing his judgement on blood status and family background at times.

"Draco?" Lucius narrowed his eyes.

Severus smirked, "Perhaps it is time that you renew some of your family teachings, Lucius. Draco has apparently fallen victim to those false ideals over the years here."

Draco glared at his Godfather, he hated it when his Father started reciting family teachings and values that he was supposed to memorise, and his Godfather was bloody well aware of that!

Severus snickered, his knew perfectly well that his best friend could be rather overbearing in exerting family traditions and values he deemed important. While Draco was a model for pureblood students in Slytherin, there were times when he couldn't stand his own father as well.

The Floo in the room chimed as they spoke, signalling someone contacting Lucius through the Floo. Allowing the connection to be made, Narcissa's face appeared in the green flames.

"Narcissa? What is the matter?" Lucius was worried, although they were not in love whatsoever, their relationship over the years have developed into that of close friendship, one that allowed them to confide in each other their darkest secrets and weaknesses.

"Everything is safe in the Manor, Lucius," Narcissa assured him, "I have received the most interesting piece of mail tonight."

The men in the room raised their brows, Severus took the initiative to ask, "Is it by any chance delivered by a falcon or eagle, sealed with identity charms, written about a Third Side to the war, and signed off by an unknown person?"

Narcissa seemed rather amused, "I trust you have received similar letters?"

They nodded, "We were just discussing the possibility of joining. Would you like to come through and talk about it, Cissy?"

"Of course," Narcissa agreed and disappeared from the fireplace for a moment, become stepping gracefully out of the bright flames. Another Golden Eagle followed after her and swooped past them, landing next to the Gryfalcon that is now perching on the table top.

After settling down and accepting a cup of hot tea, she looked around and asked, "So have you made a decision yet?"

"The Dark Mark is proving to be a rather difficult factor," Lucius answered smoothly, "We have not been convinced about the credibility and reliability of the sender yet."

"Are there any hints to who the sender is?"

Severus shook his head, "Scent and magical signature have been changed and removed, and I doubt we'll be able to track these birds either. He has been thorough."

"He?" Narcissa quirked a brow, "I was under the impression that the sender made no reference to gender."

"Uh- we assumed," Severus managed; Narcissa always had the power to make all of them feel as though they have committed errors – small and large – from time to time, with a few simple gestures.

"I've never seen the form of name that he assumed though, but he states that it is equivalent to his actual name," Lucius added swiftly.

"Equivalent in terms of meaning, or is it that he has different names under his father and mother?" Narcissa questioned, "For that matter, I do not know how the name is pronounced, neither can I fathom its meaning."

"What name?" Draco was curious.

Understanding that the charms on the letter would not allow Draco to read the content, Lucius wrote the name down on a spare piece of parchment before handing it to his son.

Draco squinted at the unfamiliarity of the language itself, before drawing upon something in distant memory. "Is it possible that the sender has a magical creature heritage? I don't remember which group of magical creatures used languages similar to this, but I think I remember reading something similar from the Manor Library."

Narcissa's eyes widened fractionally, "The sender does mention allies overlooked by the Wizarding population, doesn't he? Maybe he is one of them, that's why he could form an alliance with magical creatures?"

Severus frowned in further contemplation before reading the letter again, "Now that you've mentioned, the oath that is given, the part on the 'Strangers to these lands', could it perhaps be a subtle reference to magical creatures then?"

"That will make the situation entirely different," Lucius nodded, "different magical creatures may have different forms of magic and ideas, it is possible that they could negate the effects of the Dark Mark, or provide a location unreachable by the Dark Lord and Dumbledore."

All of them generally agreed to this revelation, and after a few moments of quiet discussion, they decided to swear the oath to secrecy, and await further response from Si'Ariadw'r.

Draco watched in fascination as his Father, Mother and Godfather tapped their respective letters with their wands and intoned softly, "_We are Strangers to these lands and seek refuge in the Old, Sancta Nosta._"

Their letter shone of a brilliant green as their tip of the wand connected with the parchment as their words were sounded, a golden shimmer enveloped their wand and right wrist as they finished reciting, signalling a Wizarding Oath made and accepted.

A light package appeared before each of them, suspending in mid-air for a few seconds before dropping onto their hands. Watching in amusement, they proceeded to open the individual packages, only to find feathers and jewellery within.

Lucius picked up the short note tucked beneath the items and read through it.

**_Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy,_**

**_The feathers were happily provided by Helwiyr, the Gryfalcon bearing your letter, and charmed to reach me in times of emergency. When in extreme danger, hold the feather and release a small burst of magic into it, I will be alerted and provide assistance myself, or through my familiars and allies._**

**_The ring is for your protection. Until we are able to meet under favourable settings and proceed to discuss matters pertaining to the Dark Mark, it will protect you from the effects of the Cruciatus Curse (this is only a temporary measure, the charm may fail). While it does not offer immunity to the summonings, it will dull your presence – similar to the effects of a notice-me-not charm but capable to induce an impression to others around you that you are following their orders or actions – in attempt that it will help prevent your participation in raids and provide safety during meetings._**

**_I believe that your son, Draco Malfoy, may be in need of these protections as well. I have included a locket in your package, that has protections from the Cruciatus Curse and harmful hexes and curses. The locket is magically connected to your ring (and the necklace of Narcissa Black) and may act as emergency portkeys if needed, the activation keyword is "familiam". It will transport you to its closest counterpart._**

**_If you have immediate issues to be discussed, please send a note with Helwiyr. If not, he will leave once you tell him that there is no reply. I will send you another letter detailing our intentions and efforts as soon as possible._**

**_Until then,_**

**_May Her Blessings be endowed upon you,_**

**_Si'Ariadw'r._**

Lucius blinked in amazement. Picking up the ring and examining it carefully, he observed several protection runes carved along the silver band, and an array of spells overlaying the Serpentine gemstone embedded on the ring, intricately woven together but with the magical traces subdued.

The locket, on the other hand, was another amazing piece of spellwork. Similar protection runes were carved over the locket, neatly fitted into the image of a hawk in flight carved onto the cover of the locket. Small Bloodstones flitted across the suface, heavily powered by different spells.

He fingered the silvery feather gently, it exuded a soft warmth and hummed in response to his magic.

Severus received a similar ring as Lucius', while Narcissa received a necklace that was similar to Draco's, although there was an added ability to induce healing energy, and to embrace the wearer in a stasis if injury was life-threatening. Both of them received feathers from the Golden Eagles, Severus' from Gryaif, and Narcissa's from Fuyd.

Watching the birds flying out of the window and disappearing from their sight quickly, they exchanged a similar look – all of them were looking forward to further acquaintance with this Si'Ariadw'r – Perhaps there still was hope for them, after all.

* * *

**And the Chapter ends here! It's a bit shorter than the previous ones, but I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!**

*** refers to "under the guidance of Mother Magic" in Latin, translated with Google Translator, so do ignore grammar errors if you studied the language :S**

**** refers to Mother Magic.**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! Review, please? Kisses and Hugs for those who review 3**

**YUU**


	4. Shifting Impressions

**I'm back! Bear hugs for all the old and new followers and favourites! **

**yngoldfogee, Cathie, Jgooullieyette, Arisa Tokudome - Thanks, so here is the next update :)**

**BlackShadowDark - I've seen a few stories of Harry being a part elf, although it's really few :S I just somehow have a preference for Elves, slender graceful powerful and all :D I hope that you continue to enjoy the story!**

**Rabi Rabbits - Your wish is granted 3 Here is the next chapter.**

**Stardust of Orion - I had a very difficult time writing those letters . Trying to keep it short enough but I had to explain some things in there too. Narcissa is an important figure to Harry in the future chapters, so she'll be in the scene for quite a large part :)**

**Linda - Hmmm, Gringotts. I will be putting some information about Harry's interaction with the Goblins in future chapters, but I'm not sure whether I'll be writing the Gringotts scene though.**

**Gracealma - I'll be explaining about why Harry knows the Old ways soon :)**

**Okay, I'll have to admit it won't be too soon for Harry and the Slytherins to grow close, I'd like to expand a bit more on their new impressions of Harry and to explain some parts of Harry's plans in school first... So, do be prepared for a relatively slow progress into the main storyline :/**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Shifting Impressions**

Draco headed down to the Great Hall the next morning in a lighter mood, which was immediately brought to the attention of his Housemates. Pansy looked fairly amused, "You are almost jumping with joy, Draco, spill."

With an afterthought, she added a mock threatening glance, "Now."

"Malfoys do not jump in joy, Pansy," Draco sniffed disdainfully.

"Fine, brimming in delight, I don't care," Pansy narrowed her eyes, "We," gesturing to herself, Theodore, Blaise, Gregory and Vincent, all walking towards the Slytherin Table, "are most curious about your obvious happiness this morning."

"No, Pansy, it started last night when he came into the dorm," Blaise added quickly after receiving a menacing glare, "but we were too tired to ask him why, he came in really late!"

Draco recalled the discussion he had with his parents and Godfather the night before, and his lips curled slowly, "Wouldn't you love to know? But I simply can't tell you until I have more concrete details about it. After all, a Slytherin never reveals his secrets."

Pansy elbowed him lightly before rolling her eyes at him, "You just want to make us suffer."

"And are you going to deny me that little enjoyment?" Draco picked a few toast and bacon into his plate, and turned to serve himself some scrambled eggs, "It's nothing."

Theodore snorted softly, "When you have a complete change of mood from dinner last night, it is definitely not 'nothing'."

"I didn't– " Draco' reply was cut off swiftly by Blaise's interruption, "Draco, you were practically drowning in doom and fear after you received the note last night."

Draco hmphed indignantly, "Malfoys are always reserved and controlled, I did nothing as you implied."

"Oh, no need to go on the defensive, Draco," Pansy placated, "We just wondered what we could do for you, we do have _similar complications_ now, don't we?"

Draco pondered carefully just how much information he could reveal to his housemates, although he didn't swear the secrecy oath, it just wasn't appropriate to spill the contents – just yet.

"Well," He paused slightly for the effect, "There seems to be a possible faction apart from the two sides, but I can't say much about it now."

As the implication of his words imprinted on their minds, all of them widened their eyes fractionally. Their parents were Death Eaters, or at least connected alright, but they have seen Harry Potter survived yet again, and more than once, in his encounters with the Death Eaters, or the Dark Lord himself; chances of the Dark side winning the war seems to be rather slim. Not to mention none of them were interested in branding and submitting themselves to the command of a madman, but that doesn't mean they look up to Dumbledore as a beacon of light either – Harry Potter, perhaps, if he was better trained, at least he was still mouldable; but Dumbledore was just too _different_ from Slytherin ideals – not to mention the blatant dismissal of their actual welfare.

"Is that true?" Gregory asked quietly. Both him and Vincent were generally seen as mindless thugs, and although they are not as intellectually astounding as their housemates, they _do _possess the intelligence to make independent decisions, and their survival instincts were much sharper than the others. It was just that they preferred to hide in the background, and get someone else to do the talking.

Draco nodded solemnly, "We don't know much yet, but it looks promising."

"And the initiator?" Pansy lowered her voice minutely.

"I said, we don't know much yet," Draco continued discreetly, "We are unable to initiate contact ourselves."

Technically, they could initiate communication with the feather, but the letter had stated it only to be used in emergency situations – and one may never know when they might need it.

"And you are convinced with that little information?" Blaise furrowed his brows, "That seems unlikely, Draco."

Draco whispered exasperatedly, "I am to be Initiated by Yule, I don't have much of a choice!"

"Oh," Pansy widened her eyes, before it her gaze softened and murmured, "We didn't know, Draco…"

Draco nodded in understanding. He was about to continue when Dumbledore stood up again and captured the attention of all students in the Great Hall to make an announcement.

_This is unusual, Dumbledore generally makes all his announcements during the Start-of-Term Feast,_ Draco thought.

"Students, I would like to bring your attention to a certain issue, or rather, a group," Dumbledore smiled warmly at the bewildered faces, "Many of you here may have heard of this group last year, headed by Mr. Harry Potter, as a Defence Association?"

_Defense Association… or rather, "Dumbledore's Army"? _Draco raised a brow questioningly.

The six Slytherins stole a quick glance at the Gryffindor Table: both Weasley and Granger had a surprised but proud smile on their faces, while Potter froze and stared blankly at his half-eaten breakfast before turning to face the Headmaster.

Blaise was the first to mutter while the others nodded in agreement, "Potter's reaction is _interesting_."

Longbottom, on the other hand, switched from staring at the Headmaster then to Potter, with a worried look on his face. Nudging Weasley gently in the ribs, the three of them looked at Potter, before the smiles on Weasley's and Granger's faces turned worried, fervently whispering to Potter in hushed tones.

"With the success of the group last year in improving their defence skills, I would like to sanction this group into a formal club this year, to instil vigilance in honing your defence skills beyond the classroom. Interested individuals may provide their names to the prefects, and the list of names would be sent to Mr. Potter when he requires it for further planning," Dumbledore smiled encouragingly, "I would like to remind all students that we are currently living in times of war and uncertainty, Defence is most certainly a skill that we would all need to protect ourselves and survive through the war."

And with that, he sat down and resumed his meal, although not before nodding at Harry Potter, presumably a gesture for Potter to meet him in his office after breakfast.

_I wonder what was all that about, _Draco frowned,_ Potter seemed to have been caught completely off guard about the decision, and he doesn't look very happy about it either._ He didn't miss Potter's tight lips and tense jawline as the Headmaster gestured at him.

Sparing a glance at the Teacher's Table, he could see that both his Father and Godfather look intrigued, possibly they have observed the exchange as well, although his Godfather may be reluctant to admit that he was watching the Golden Boy's expression.

_Well, we will soon learn about it, _Draco finished his breakfast confidently, _as we will learn about the letter last night and its sender._

* * *

"… you promised that, Professor, you promised that you wouldn't do this again," A soft but persistent voice could be heard beyond the door to the Headmaster's office.

Lucius raised a brow quizzically as he neared the door to the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore had summoned him to discuss _issues essential to the students' welfare_, but he had not anticipated company to this meeting.

"I'm sorry, my boy, I should have told you before I made the announcement," The Headmaster's voice was heavy and sincere, "I was afraid you may not appreciate the idea if I had mentioned it to you, but I did promise you that I would not keep you in the dark anymore. I'm sorry, it seems that I have betrayed my word again."

The other was quiet for a few moments before responding, "I hate this, Professor. Not being in control about my decisions… I hate it, and you know perfectly well, sir..."

The voice was soft but with certainty despite expressing a weakness, with slight hints of apprehension underlying it that perhaps only Slytherins would be apt in picking up. Lucius could feel his curiosity perk.

"Then I assume, Professor," There was little hesitation this time in his tone, "that you would grant me absolute freedom over my methods of overseeing the group? May I be assured that no other professors, including you, sir, will attempt to influence my decisions and the students' choices?"

The Headmaster's reply radiated warmth, "Yes, of course, Harry. It is your defence club and we will not intrude unless you ask for assistance. Of course, seeing that we have a proficient Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year –"

_Harry? Harry Potter? _Lucius was surprised, _it didn't sound like the spoiled brat that Severus complains of, neither did it sound like the arrogant boy that Draco seemed convinced to dislike._

Feeling that it was inappropriate to eavesdrop further, he rapped twice on the door smartly, before hearing the Headmaster call out an "enter" to allow him entrance into the room.

"Ah, Lucius, how wonderful for you to join us," Dumbledore waved him in, "I was just about to talk to Harry here about you."

Lucius twitched the corner of his lips, "I cannot fathom what matters outside of the classroom I should have pertaining to Mr. Potter, Headmaster."

He glanced swiftly over to the boy sitting across Dumbledore, surprised again to find the boy looking at him not with disdain, but with a cool indifference, and perhaps a shadow of curiosity and compassion lurking beneath the neutrality. The boy lowered his gaze as he caught Lucius' eyes, and turned towards the Headmaster with rapt attention.

"As you would have heard this morning, Mr. Potter will be leading a Defence Association for extra-curricular practice. Although I have given him permission to run the group as he sees fit, I would like you to act as advisor for the group," Dumbledore looked at Potter apologetically and explained sincerely, "Harry, I am not able to sanction a group without leaving a professor in-charge of it. I hope that you could use the opportunity to run your plans by Professor Malfoy, and perhaps discuss what spells you would like to include? Professor Malfoy would also be responsible for any activities that you may decide to hold for the other children in the group. Of course, he would not be in active control over the running of the group, just to be there in case you may require authority to settle the students."

Potter lowered his lashes demurely, "I understand, Professor, I am not adverse to that."

Lucius could almost feel the power radiating off the teenager as the boy turned to look at him, a flash of challenge at the back of those eyes, "Professor Malfoy? What are your views on it?"

"Lucius?" The Headmaster inquired as Lucius did not answer.

_Interesting. The boy has strong glamours on his face and his back, and apparently his magic is spilling through his shields… He must have received quite a strong magical boost on his sixteenth birthday, but then again, that would not explain his behaviour. _Lucius chuckled inwardly, _Severus and Draco could be childish and petty about school rivalries, but they would not have misinterpreted the boy __**that**__ much. Working with him might not seem a bad idea after all._

"I will not disagree to the responsibilities, Headmaster," He replied carefully, "However, I believe that I would like the reassurance from Mr. Potter himself that he is indeed agreeable to this arrangement." Dumbledore may have already informed him of Lucius' defect, but he just had to be sure – it is dangerous to have a potential enemy with such magical strength.

The boy gave him a slightly coy look at his response but answered nonetheless, "I will not deny that we do not have the best of history between us, Professor Malfoy. But I am willing to start anew based on Professor Dumbledore's confidence in you, sir. There is one thing that I am curious about, though: Was it you at the Department of Mysteries last term?"

"Harry!" Dumbledore chided gently, but the boy continued staring at him, waiting for an answer.

Lucius studied the boy closely, observing painful honesty shining in those emerald orbs, before shaking his head lightly, "No, the Dark Lord did not trust me to obtain the Prophecy, I was to focus on creating a power base in the Ministry for him instead. Why- no, how did you tell?"

He remembered that it was one of the lower ranked members whom polyjuiced as Lucius, although he didn't exactly acquire the Malfoy grace, it was impossible to see through a polyjuice disguise.

Potter widened his eyes, and his gaze flittered a little as if he was deciding whether to answer or not, before responding softly, more of uncertainty than anything else, "It was just like a nagging feeling- it didn't _feel right_. His magic felt different, a lot more different from Malfoy's – Draco Malfoy, I mean – than it should have been, I think."

Dumbledore was surprised at this revelation, it seems that the boy was far more powerful than he had expected. Even more perceptive than he used to be, although he tried not to think of the reasons that led to Harry's heightened sensitivity to things that every other child should not be aware of.

_You may not be able forgive this old man, Harry; but I had truly wished that I could give you a normal life, a normal childhood. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked Sirius to stay in Grimmauld Place, he should have had time to spend with his Godson that he barely had the chance to know… _

"I see," Lucius nodded.

Some wizards are able to sense the subtleties within magical signatures between persons, but that was something that he had not mastered, being a Veela, he preferred to rely on his sharper senses.

"I am glad I can be certain that you did not participate in my Godfather's death, Professor Malfoy," The boy gave him a genuine smile, softening the edges of his face, "I cannot change the past, but I could prevent the future from playing to its tune. I will send over the schedules and spell list once I have it done, sir."

As he rose from his seat, he inclined his head towards Dumbledore, "May I leave now, Professor? Classes will be starting, and Professor McGonagall would be most unhappy if I was late for her class."

The Headmaster gave a small nod, Potter left the office in poised grace. Dumbledore stared hard at Lucius, "Lucius, my boy, Mr. Potter has gone through much during his summer, I trust you would not make the alliance difficult?"

"Of course, Headmaster," Lucius murmured, "He seems to have changed."

Dumbledore's gaze turned sad as the twinkle from his eyes vanished abruptly, "Call it a foolish mistake, Lucius, I had made wrong decisions for him, and the price should be paid by me, instead of the young boy. Do try to get to know him; Severus and Draco may be a little judgemental about Mr. Potter, but he deserves the time and effort for you to do so, especially in light of his changes over the summer."

And perhaps Lucius might turn out to be a better mentor for certain things Harry should want to learn, now that the boy's trust in him is long gone – which was entirely his own fault, not Harry's. He should have known not to withdraw himself from the boy when he was desperate for help and guidance… was he going to make the same mistake he had with Tom Riddle?

Lucius nodded, "Would you like me to advise Severus and Draco…?"

"You can but try, Lucius," Dumbledore gave him a kind look, "I'm afraid it may be rather difficult for them to overcome their prejudices, but Harry is turning into quite the fine young man. Not unlike his father, but even more like his mother."

Lucius agreed as he exited the room, thinking over his new observations of the Boy-Who-Lived. _Harry Potter, quite the enigma, isn't he? I shall have to discuss this with Severus and Draco, as well as Narcissa, perhaps there is more than meets the eye._

* * *

Severus gave Gryaif a treat before sitting down before the hearth to ponder over the contents of the letter he had just received from Si'Ariadw'r. The letter had contained much surprise, and he could almost feel his anticipation for further exchange between the sender and himself. Hope was an emotion foreign to him – at least after realising that Albus could not free him from the Dark Lord's grasp.

Staring back at the letter, he had to carefully decide what to include in his response.

**_Professor Severus Tobias Snape,_**

**_May your sufferings cease and freedom dwell upon your future, cum ductu matris magicae._**

**_It is a pleasant surprise to receive your oath of secrecy so soon after the letter was sent, I would hope not to betray your trust in our cause._**

**_As you may have deduced, there are magical beings within our group, as well as talented wizards and witches. I regret not being able to disclose more information as many aspects have yet to be settled, it would be dangerous, not to mention reckless, to speak of our members freely. As such, codenames are required for each member and letters would be addressed as such from henceforth. Before we are able to meet in person, any other member whom seeks to identify themselves to another (some of our members are aware of all identities for the sake of management and emergencies), they would speak the codeword, "We are Strangers to these lands", before addressing your codename and their own, and communicating their message. You will be referred to as "Viper", and I myself "Speaker"._**

**_Due to the nature of our members, we are in great need for Instinct suppressants and Wolfsbane potions brewed by a Master. I would like to seek your permission to request for your assistance. It is not an obligation, but if you have other recommendations of certified and reputable Potions Masters, please do provide us with their contacts._**

**_Attached to this letter you will find several potions recipe and potions ingredients. I have come across these recipes and am intrigued by the potential of its combination and modifications to create a stronger version of Wolfsbane. The ingredients are provided in abundance, please feel free to experiment on the potions recipe, or to use them in other private experiments. What I ask, is to ensure that these ingredients are put to good use._**

**_We currently have a few undergoing projects: we are attempting to establish an unbiased press to release truthful information and useful techniques to defend against mild hexes and curses, as well as creating wards and objects that may be easily erected on each household if required. Some of our members are looking into the possibility of re-enacting Wizarding traditions and etiquette classes, and investigate other possibilities of integrating muggleborns and magical creatures into the Wizarding world. If there are plausible suggestions, please do not hesitate to send forth the idea, we will need as much input as possible._**

**_I apologise for not being able to deal with the Dark Mark as of yet, but I am looking into the possibility of removing the brand. If the ring fails to function as required, send word and I will rectify it as soon as possible. Information exchanged in these letters will be regarded under the secrecy oath, but you are free to communicate these issues with known members of the Sanctuary._**

**_Until then,_**

**_May Her Blessings be endowed upon you,_**

**_Speaker._**

He picked up the potions recipe and read through them carefully, he wasn't familiar with these recipes – and that was odd – but the combination of the original Wolfsbane with different instinct suppressants and mind enhancers, together with bone flexibility potions… Severus could foresee a probable potion that is much more powerful than the current Wolfsbane potion, although some of the ingredients would need substitution for incompatibility.

And the ingredients that were sent – that was the most shocking aspect of the letter. There were vials of Unicorn blood (freely given), Nundu blood, Phoenix tears, and a few containers with Werewolf fangs, Faerie wing dust, Basilisk fang and shed skin, and other rare ingredients.

If he wasn't convinced by the letter, he was definitely convinced by these ingredients. Some of them would go into the Wolfsbane experiment, but others would create wonders for his other potions experiments.

Just as he reached for a fresh piece of parchment, there was a knock at his door. Feeling a little irritated, he stuffed the letter and recipes into his drawer and barked out, "Enter!"

Lucius pushed open the door warily and frowned, "Why the hostility, Severus?" He didn't wait for a reply as he beckoned Draco and Narcissa into the room.

Severus scowled at them, "Why on Salazar's Snake do you have to barge in at such a late time?"

"It is just half past eight, Severus, it is not _late_," Lucius shrugged and gestured around the room, "You do not seem to be sleeping any time soon either."

"Hush, Lucius," Narcissa reprimanded softly, "Did we interrupt something?"

"…No."

Lucius rolled his eyes, Severus was in one of his grumpy moods again.

"We received letters from Speaker, and we thought it prudent to discuss about the new development," Narcissa explained, "If you are otherwise occupied, we could discuss this in the morning, but I did wish we could send our replies tonight."

Severus' expression was sour, while Narcissa's words sounded polite, there was an underlying threat to do as she wishes _or else_. "I am free now, I was just contemplating the letter I received."

"Good, then," Narcissa's smile was brilliant as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

Lucius and Draco joined her as Severus quirked his eyebrows, "I thought Draco was not involved?"

"He is now," Lucius commented offhandedly, "He just received the letter to swear the oath, and further instructions as well."

"I see. Perhaps it would be helpful if we are aware of our codenames?" Severus decided to start the discussion.

Lucius nodded in agreement, "Mine is Moonshine, Draco is Typhon and Cissy is Persephone."

"Viper," Severus provided his own codename as well, "He asked if I could brew Bloodlust suppressants and Wolfsbane potions for the cause, and to experiment with the recipes he sent."

"Hmm, interesting," Lucius pondered, "I am to exert pressure over the Daily Prophet and attempt to remove the Dark Lord's men and Dumbledore's excessive influence from the Ministry. Draco?"

Receiving the gesture to make the next statement, Draco unconsciously straightened his back and replied, "He wondered if there were other students in school, especially the Slytherins, whom may be interested in joining us. And if there have been factions created within the Houses."

Severus narrowed his eyes, _Speaker seems quite aware and interested in the situations in the school. Perhaps he has other contacts in Hogwarts?_

Narcissa smoothened her skirt as she spoke, "He asked me rather graciously to research and compile information following a certain structure regarding traditional Wizarding festivals and ceremonies."

They discussed further about the other matters that Speaker has mentioned in his letter, and other possible alternatives that could be implemented, before coming to an end. Just as Severus thought he could retreat to his study and write the letter, Lucius started on another topic.

"What do you think of Harry Potter?"

Severus paused in his thoughts, "What?" _What has the Potter brat got to do with anything?_

"I met him in the Headmaster's office today, about the Defence Association," Lucius continued thoughtfully, "He looked nothing like what you and Draco had been saying about him; he was mature and apprehensive, his expressions, if I might say, are carefully guarded, and he even made peace with me. Nothing like what I remembered of him in Draco's Second Year though."

"Are you sure? The Potter brat had been nothing but blatantly disrespectful, with little intellectual aspiration," Severus was extremely sceptical. _The boy was just like his father, the arrogant, attention-seeking Gryffindor! _He was still furious over the fact that Potter had looked into his pensive and saw the most embarrassing moments of his life.

Draco conceded his father's opinion, "Potter is much different from last term, some of us have observed the changes. He holds himself differently now, his appearance alone is most respectable; and his performance in class today was exceptional – he used to just do fine in Transfiguration, but he way he casted the spell today, it was almost like it was… second nature to him. His grip, wand movements, everything was so fluid, and his control of magic too. Have you seen our essays, Professor?"

"I have no wish to read through nonsense written by those dunderheads just yet."

"Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick both commended him over his assignments done over the holidays, I was wondering maybe he had improved on his Potions essay as well," Draco suggested, he himself was witness to Potter's pitiful attempt at potions for the last few years.

Severus' eyebrows shot to his hairline as he opened the drawer and reached for the scrolls of assignments there. Searching through the submissions for the one labelled with Potter's name, he unsealed the parchment and settled down to read, it couldn't be any worse than any other assignments he handed in prior to this, could it?

Severus was surprised to see that the parchment was a lot cleaner than it used to be – Potter was extremely clumsy with ink and quills before – and there were neither ink blotches nor untidy scratch marks all over the place.

As he read further down the essay, he couldn't stop himself from widening his eyes in surprise. Reaching for the potions books he kept on the shelf behind him, he referred to some of the precautions and interaction effects that was stated in the essay before scrutinising the writing again.

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged an amused look as they observed the Potions Master's changing expressions, "So? How was it, Severus?"

"It is…" Severus struggled to find the word, "quite enlightening, I should say."

Draco was caught in surprise; that was probably the highest compliment that he had ever heard coming from his Godfather.

Severus frowned as he looked back at the essay, "If Potter had the brains to write an essay like this, why would he have held himself back? And if so, why would he choose to show it now?" He may not have been _that_ harsh on the boy if he had displayed this level of talent, Merlin knows he has a soft spot for Potions prodigies.

"You did mention that this change occurred over the summer, yes?" Narcissa inquired softly. She had not encountered the Potter boy directly this term, and brief glances from before didn't make much of an impression, "Maybe something crucial happened over the summer?"

"The Order did not detect any disturbances this summer, the only thing that may have made a large impact on Potter was-" Severus had to clench his teeth, "the mutt's death."

"The mutt- You mean Sirius Black?" Narcissa was confused, "What did my cousin have to do with Harry Potter?"

"He was the boy's Godfather, he found that out when Black came after Pettigrew in his Third Year," Speaking of which brought back bad memories for Severus.

"Oh," Narcissa sighed softly, so the boy had lost both his parents and his Godfather that he had just known for barely two years? She couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the poor boy, "That must have hurt him a lot."

"He yelled at me for letting the mutt go into danger, Narcissa," Severus sneered disdainfully.

"He lost his Godfather, Severus," Narcissa's tone was gentle but firm, "Sirius could have been his only family in the Wizarding world, and to lose that… He must have been heartbroken, Severus, how could he not lash out? It's a wonder he didn't attack you physically or magically, and I should remind you that your attitude towards him was probably not helpful at all."

Draco shuddered as he comprehended his mother's words. He couldn't imagine how he could deal with losing his parents and Godfather. And Potter had lost all of them… "But he has the Weasleys, Mother. Surely-?"

"They may be friendly and welcoming towards the boy, Draco, but _they are not family_," Narcissa explained quietly, "Nothing is like family."

Draco nodded, this was something all purebloods understood well.

Severus pressed his temple as he agreed grudgingly with Narcissa, "I will see for myself in Potions class, I still cannot understand how he had managed to get an 'O' in O.W.L Potions."

* * *

**End of Chapter Four! Severus' observations of Harry's changes will be in the next chapter :) Read and Review, please, hugs and kisses for all reviewers!**

**YUU**


	5. Planning and Preparations

**Kisses for all my reviewers! *muacks***

**princessanastasiaromanov464 - Glad that you like it :D**

**Linda - Here you go ;) But you know, you shouldn't get an overdose of things, so let's be patient and wait till the next update~**

**Arisa Tokudome, KendaO, branchkk - Thanks, hope that you will continue to enjoy the story!**

**Stardust of Orion - The main part of the Sanctuary will probably only come in in like chapters 8 or 9, have to lay the grounds for everything else first! Oh and this chapters onwards will have more parts from the perspective of Harry and his friends, can't let the Slytherins steal the spotlight, can we ;)**

**charm13insomnia - Why, thank you! First time someone's called my fic 'wicked' ;D**

**adenoide - Yupp yupp, Severus is going to see Harry in a different light soon, and he's in it for a shock when he knows who is involved in the Sanctuary.**

**Guest (Please do at least give me some name to address you!) - Severus still haven't seen the changes in Harry up close yet, but he will in this and the next chapter during class!**

**Cat - Thank you! Hope that your PC will soon allow you to join FF, I don't know what I'll do when I can't use the favourite/follow function...**

**Moving on the the chapter itself...**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Planning and Preparations**

Harry scattered rolls of parchment and several tomes onto the table nearest to the common room fireplace before settling comfortably into a couch, curling up in his seat and pulling a soft blanket over his lower torso.

Hermione clucked her tongue disapprovingly, "_Must_ you sit like that, Harry?"

"Oh, of course I do, Hermione," Harry responded merrily as he tucked the edges of the blanket around his feet, and reached for the lists of students' names interested in joining the DA, "It's so nice and cozy, won't you join me?" He said as he fluttered his lashes appealingly.

"Blimey, mate, how can you fit your whole body in that thing?" Ron huffed, it wasn't a small couch – granted – but it wasn't as if it would be comfortable trying to squeeze your whole body onto the couch. He preferred stretching his legs over the divan – at least when no one else is there – much better than Harry's posture.

Harry sniffed as he scanned through the names, "Maybe because you are like, I don't know, 6 inches taller than me?"

"Sorry, mate, didn't mean to mention that," Ron was apologetic; most of the Gryffindors knew that height was a sensitive topic for Harry, since he was around 5 feet 7 when the others in the same year were mostly well over 6 feet. It wasn't a matter of pride or masculinity, but it was a constant reminder of his ill-treatment back at the Dursleys, and no matter how much more he tried to eat during school term, he still wasn't getting any taller, or heavier, for that matter.

"No worries, I gave up on that a while ago," Harry waved his hand dismissively, but immediately turning to a teasing look, "At least I won't be targeted as physical labour to slave for the girls, I'd say that is much worse than my being shorter than average, Ron."

"Harry!" Hermione bristled.

Ron shuddered as he remembered being ordered around by the girls to arrange furniture around the common room, "Geez, don't remind me, Harry, it was a nightmare!"

Hermione scolded softly, "Ron, we weren't _that_ bad! And the common room looks so much better now anyway!"

Ron just shook his head tiredly, who bloody cares how the common room looks? As long as there are enough sofas and couches, the carpet is fine, the room is warm, who cares whether the couches were forming a symmetrical circle, or whether the shelves have been positioned strategically across the room?

"Seriously, Harry, can't you sit properly?" Hermione sounded exasperated, Gryffindor common room wasn't exactly a space she would consider a private setting without the need to exercise caution - Harry's own room, fine; Grimmauld's Place, maybe; not where you can't trust everybody within hearing distance!

Harry just gave her a look, "Would you rather I sprawl out on the carpet in front of the fireplace, 'Mione?" He would have preferred that actually, but oh well, decency and all.

Hermione studied his expression for a moment, "You wouldn't."

"Hmm…" Turning a dreamy gaze towards the fireplace, he looked thoughtful, "You know, now that we've mentioned it, it looks rather comfy-"

"Harry James Potter, what am I supposed to do with you?" Hermione sighed.

"Give up on the lecture about proper decorum?" Harry grinned, "I'll do that out in the public, I promise, Hermione."

"You should just give up on that, Hermione," Neville took a seat opposite of Harry, "Harry knows what to do, and Ron has a worse posture than he does now."

Ron immediately straightened his back, "Hey, no need to drag me into this, Neville!"

Neville just smiled and beckoned towards Harry, "Need help with that?"

"Mmhmm," Harry hummed in agreement, "I was thinking of splitting up the duties within the DA, seeing the number of hopefuls wanting to join the DA, care to help in planning? I need to submit my plans to Professor Malfoy before conducting the meetings and actual sessions. Oh and Hermione, we'll need to create another charmed namelist as well, are you free to discuss about it now?"

"You needn't ask, Harry," Hermione shifted from her seat to the sofa beside Harry's, dragging Ron along, giving Harry a stern "why-do-you-even-bother-to-ask-of-course-I-will-help-you-idiot" look.

Ron spluttered, "Professor Malfoy? You mean Lucius bloody Malfoy, Harry? We'll have to report to him?"

"Ron, he's our professor for DADA now, you know," Harry frowned.

"He is that, well, but really, Harry, he is a Malfoy and he was a-" Ron continued disbelievingly.

Harry tilted his head to the side and stared at Ron pointedly, "Ron, you _know_ his decision over this whole war now, and you _know_ where we stand in relation to him and his family, is his past so difficult to overcome? He has been civil to us, all of us, during class, are you going to respond in this manner? It's hypocritical to judge by family names when you disdain those whom judge by blood status, Ronald."

Ron's first instinct was to yell in denial, but as Harry's tone and message sunk in, he gulped. They had talked long and hard on the Hogwarts Express and at the start-of-term feast about this – well, it was mainly Harry doing the talking and they listened, and argued – and he had almost forgotten their decision and agreement about the situation. "Sorry, mate, I'm just so used to blaming them and all for being Dark and evil, it's hard to change immediately."

"It's fine, it took me a while to get used to changing my way of thinking too," Harry gave him a warm smile, "You don't need to _like _them, as long you can work with him and make sure not to create havoc within DA, I'm cool, Ron."

"Really weird to hear you say that, mate," Ron wiggled his brow, "Hermione used to be our voice of reason, and both of us were supposed to be impulsive Gryffindors who can't stop and think for a minute; and now I'm left all alone in this role…"

"I _am _a Family Head now," Harry stated, "And with those two cruel taskmasters all over my manners and knowledge…" He shuddered involuntarily, "I'm glad I'm still sane and alive."

Hermione clucked her tongue again, "It all ended well, we can see; but I really hope that we get to meet _your two cruel taskmasters_ soon, Harry. But back to business now, what do we need to do about the DA? Have you decided on the spells that you're going to include in the sessions yet? And how frequent are the sessions going to be? What's the level of involvement of the Professors?"

Harry couldn't help but smile, "Oh Hermione, ever the wise one, what are we going to do without you?"

"Stop being cheeky and answer my questions, Harry," Hermione flushed slightly.

"Well," Harry grinned unrepentantly as he handed over a piece of parchment, "I thought that these spells are the basic spells that has to be perfected over the first few sessions first, and then we'll move on to the spells at the bottom and build up from there."

Hermione read through the list silently as she thought over the difficulty and functions of each spell listed there, "They're all defensive spells, Harry. Don't you think some of them, especially the Slytherins would object to that?"

"Then we'll just have to show them defensive spells can be just as deadly as offensive ones, don't we?" Harry's smile was almost magnificent, "I was thinking that we could have a little duel performance before the crowd after we get all the rules across…"

Hermione and Ron stared confusedly at him, but Neville bobbed his head in understanding, "That is a splendid idea, Harry; you can assert and enforce your leadership position when you emerge victorious, while you show them how to utilise defensive spells creatively to knock down your opponent at the same time."

Harry nodded his head in response as a look of comprehension dawned across Hermione's and Ron's faces. His two friends are very dear to him, of course, but some things only Neville, whom had a pureblood upbringing and training for his Family Head's position, would understand without saying.

"I see, mate," Ron frowned, "But who are you going to duel with?"

Harry simply smiled as Hermione answered the question, "Think, Ron. The Slytherins wouldn't try anything since Harry's duelling skills still remain an unknown to them, who else is going to object?"

"…Oh," Ron grinned vindictively, "Do you think Smith or McLaggen would start yelling first?"

"I'd say Smith, Ron; but I wouldn't deny that McLaggen might try to outdo him or something," Harry replied smoothly, "I certainly believe I can hold a front against those two."

Hermione huffed indignantly, "That's a real given, Harry. They can't duel for Merlin's sake."

Neville snickered softly, "And they can't keep their mouths shut to save their lives either."

"Okay, so the list of spells is done, when do you suppose we should start with offensive spells?" Hermione laid the list down.

Harry squinted his eyes as he thought carefully, "Probably into the third or fourth session for the advanced group, but I'll have to see about the rest. Dumbledore didn't specify the year, so we've got students from First Year all the way to Seventh. Do you think it'll result in an outrage if I told First and Second Years that their magical cores aren't stable enough to participate?"

"That'll depend on how you present the information, of course," Hermione shifted into a more upright position, "You can be extremely persuasive, you know."

"Sorry?" Harry furrowed his brow, "I'm a bit lost here."

Hermione just shook her head in frustration: Harry definitely had leadership characteristics, people are naturally drawn to him, especially so now since he's acquired a grace and composure that practically screams "attractive" – or rather, "seductive" – at all those willing to listen to him. Not to mention he has the fame of being the Boy-Who-Lived at his fingertips, just waiting to be used.

Neville understood Hermione's exasperation as he spelled it out for Harry, "All wizards and witches are inevitably attracted to power, Harry – yes, not only the Slytherins – and if you presented a powerful image and sincerity when you speak to them, they'll understand, and some would probably – pardon me – worship you for your warm consideration."

"That sounds awfully manipulative, Neville," Harry was a little stunned, but generally more intrigued than shocked, "I never knew you had that in you."

"I didn't know either," Ron muttered under his breath.

"Okay, next thing, then," Hermione concluded as she stole the piece of parchment still held in Harry's hand, "A physical regiment? I think they'll all have a lot to say about this, Harry, from what we've experienced, wizards and witches generally have no love for anything non-magical."

"What do you mean, a physical regiment?" Ron plucked the parchment out of Hermione's fingers, "Looks a lot like Quidditch working out… I could deal with that. No problem, mate, just show them some stunning dodges in your duel and they'll shut up."

"Are you sure?" Hermione was rather sceptical.

"Positive," Ron nodded his head, "It'll be seen as a component of power itself."

Seeing Hermione's confused look, Neville explained, "We don't just judge by magical strength alone, Hermione, physical strength, speed or stealth, anything that contributes to duelling strength is considered power. It's just that many of us aren't that skilled, so it eventually gets left out, but a reminder would bring back all the attention."

"Hmm, I see," Hermione nodded in acceptance, "Will the professors be involved in the sessions?"

"Professor Malfoy will be there, he's in-charge after all," Harry started counting off, "I would want to invite Professor Flitwick for a few sessions since he's a Duelling Master; Professor Snape, maybe, he does know a lot about duelling and curses after all, I think we might include a session or two on using potions in battle or something; Professor Dumbledore would probably want to check-up on us although he says he's giving me free reign; and possibly Professor McGonagall, transfiguration could be dead helpful if we needed to hide or stall or something during a battle."

"You'll need to collaborate with the professors, Harry, since you're the leader of the group, but I think you've got all this planned out, the survival skills component sounds intriguing," Hermione gave her approval as she smiled at the slender youth.

Ron had a look of disgust, "Good luck talking to Snape, mate, he won't be too happy; and McGonagall won't go easy on you either."

"And that makes me feel so much better, thanks, Ron," Harry replied sarcastically.

Hermione coughed lightly before the boys could start bickering, "So what spells would you like to include on the namelist, Harry?"

"We'll need the same ones as before, I don't want them gossiping around about what we do in DA; and to secure their agreement to the rules of DA, and perhaps some charm to make it invisible to others except for those involved?"

"Wait, let me get my books first," Hermione ran up to the girls' dormitory.

Ron and Neville turned to look at Harry expectantly, "Well, obviously we won't be helping with the jinxes on the parchment, so what do you need us to do?"

Harry grinned as he shoved the long lists of names into each of their hands, "You can help me sort these names out by year and house, so that I can write notices for each of the houses and talk to the First and Second Years."

Neville accepted the papers and started to work, while Ron grimaced in face of such a task, "Blimey, Harry, you know I hate sorting things out… The things I do for you, mate."

"Sure, Ron," Harry smirked as he picked up another list of names, "I'll make sure I get the twins to thank you," _and prank you._

Ron glared at him half-heartedly as he started reading the list, after going through the first few names he couldn't help but splutter, "Draco Malfoy? _He _wants to join DA? He was on our tails last year! And Zabini? Parkinson? Nott? Goyle? Crabbe?" He paled as he went down the list, and he stared at Harry helplessly, "We're really going to have to deal with the Slytherins, aren't we?"

"Yes we are, Ron," Harry smiled sweetly over the list in his hands, "Don't worry, I won't put you in charge of them, I don't think red heads and serpents go together well."

Ron just gave him another half-glare before grabbing a quill and organising the names by year and house.

* * *

Severus watched as students filed into his Sixth Year Advanced Potions class, most of them were his snakes, but there were five Ravenclaws, one Hufflepuff and two Gryffindors that made it into his class.

Scrutinising Potter closely as he made his way to an unoccupied station, he had to admit that Draco was indeed accurate in his observations. Potter placed his Potions kit onto the table and raised his head, meeting Severus' gaze evenly – a slight note of hesitation, but mostly indifference and a tinge of deference.

_So the boy has the ability to show respect and deference, after all, _Severus decided to observe further before making any comments to Potter, he had to grudgingly admit that his treatment of the boy wasn't fair, and the signs of intelligence and self-control Potter showed now boded well for future classes. If he really has a talent for potions after all, it _was_ possible that they might get along well enough, for a Gryffindor, at least.

"All of you here have managed to make it to N.E.W.T. level Potions, whether by sheer luck," He gave a swift glance at Potter, although it did not hold as much menace than before, "or by practical knowledge. N.E.W.T. level Potions is not simply an instruction of potion-making, it requires adaptability, rather than booksmart," He paused for a split second as he looked at Granger and the Ravenclaws, "it requires finesse, subtlety and patience. We shall see soon enough whether you indeed have the predisposition to master the art."

Deciding to test whether Potter has really improved his knowledge on potions, he whirled around to face the teenager, "Tell me, Mr. Potter, what is Golpalott's Third Law?"

Potter's tone was calm and even, "It states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of antidotes for each of the separate components, sir."

His eyebrows raised as he continued to ask, "If Ms. Granger unfortunately ingested a mixture of the Draught of Living Death, Bloodroot Potion, and Venomous Tentacula Juice, what would you do?"

"I would use a Bezoar, sir," Potter lowered his gaze as he answered, "Trying to create a true antidote for the combined poisons would take too much time, she would have died before a solution was found."

Severus couldn't deny that he was rather impressed, most students would refer back to Golpalott's Third Law and try to explain the different concoctions they might come up with, but the most practical answer would be to use a Bezoar due to situational urgency. He stared at Potter in a different light – yes, this was a boy whom had faced death and knew the importance of _surviving_.

"Very well, Mr. Potter, ten points to Gryffindor," Severus turned towards the class, "When a mixed poison is ingested, time is of essence, there is no use of developing the complicated mixture of antidote if your intended patient had died. You may investigate the probable concoctions thereafter, but simply using a Bezoar would cure most of the poisons, as would Phoenix Tears."

Draco was stumped; his Godfather had never awarded Gryffindor points, especially not Potter! Seems that Potter's change is actually great enough to catch Severus off his guard, and he was impressed by Potter's answer himself – he had not thought of that, the simplest of solutions but it just slipped his mind.

"Today we will be brewing the Draught of Living Death, refer to the instructions on the board," Severus gestured towards the board as step-by-step instructions started appearing on the board, he had decided to include another small test for the class in the recipe, "You will work in pairs. Ms. Granger and Ms. Greengrass. Mr. Goyle…"

He arranged for all non-Slytherin students to be paired with a Slytherin, as he came towards the last pair – whom he had strategically placed together to see if he could get a better understanding of the changes in the boy –, "Mr. Potter, you will work with Mr. Malfoy."

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**And that's the end of chapter five! Review, please? I'll try to get the next chapter in by Valentine's, but no promises!**

**YUU**


	6. A Brewing Intimacy

**Hmmm, even if it's a day late, it can still be considered on Valentine's, right :D?**

**Phaedra Coopers, emthereble, Fae0306, JJxWillxProtectxYou - thanks! do enjoy this one too!**

**adenoide - The part on Harry's actual changes with his heritage will be explained when he reveals the Sanctuary and its members to the Slytherins, and, um, I thought it was implied here (but maybe it's the author's bias), but Ron, Hermione, and Neville do know about Harry's changes... But further details really have to wait till the Sanctuary part comes in!**

**charm13insomnia - Yupp! I enjoyed writing that too - the snakes trying to figure out Harry and getting more confused over it ;)**

**Linda - Please do be patient :D My mid-terms are coming up and I'll have to study a lot more now :S Updates may not be as frequent as before... Yupp, I always envisioned Neville as a smart and patient person, especially after the Ministry incident, he should have matured a lot, so that's how I pictured him when I was writing. And, well, it isn't fair to let Hermione have all the good ideas, so everyone would have a part in it.**

**So the chapter!**

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**Chapter 6: A Brewing Intimacy**

Harry squinted his eyes as he read through the instructions on the board, after frowning for a few moments, he turned towards his newly assigned potions partner and asked, "Malfoy, do you think there's something wrong about line four?"

Draco stared at Potter disbelievingly before turning towards the board again, reading carefully. _Ground the Valerian root into a fine powder, and add it to the mixture after 2 clockwise stirs._ He quickly re-read the statement a few more times before turning to scowl at Potter, "What do you mean?"

Harry was still pondering at the instructions and totally oblivious to Malfoy's apparent distrust of his statement, "Valerian root has strong sedative properties, wouldn't the grounded root have too high a potency, and react with asphodel to actually induce a peaceful death, instead of a dead-like sleep?"

Frowning as he tried to recall the properties of the Valerian root and asphodel, Draco was lost in concentration. Severus, however, chose to step in as he commented softly to the both of them, "Very observant, Mr. Potter. What would you do instead?"

Harry widened his eyes in slight surprise, was Professor Snape really complimenting him? Not to mention the hatred and menace usually held there for him was pleasantly absent. He thought the ten points given just before was a mistake or something, but it seems that the professor is actually being nice, or rather, neutral to him for once.

"Dice or slice it, sir," He cocked his head to a side as he thought, "Reducing its surface contact with the asphodel before the other ingredients are added to neutralise its potency, before the potion is completed, I think… professor."

Severus nodded his head slowly, "Dicing the root into small chunks would be sufficient, Mr. Potter; now get started, or the both of you will not complete the potion before the end of the class."

Draco snapped back into reality, gaping at the professor's retreating back – the expression on the face of his Godfather just now as he acknowledged Potter's observation may have looked neutral or a little dismissive, but unknown to others, it actually showed some sort of appreciation and commendation – only gaining back his composure when the other boy started speaking again.

"Malfoy, should I get the ingredients or do you…" Harry thought that Malfoy behaved rather awkwardly today.

Nodding his head hastily, "I'll start the fire and heat the water."

"Sure," Harry shrugged as he left his seat and headed towards the ingredients store.

Draco carefully lit a fire and placed the cauldron of water over the flames to start heating it to the appropriate temperature. Having a slight moment to wait, he turned and looked around the classroom. The rest of his classmates were diligently starting up the potion, although none of them seem to have pointed out the problem in the instructions as Potter just did (and confirmed by Severus himself!).

He looked at the ingredients store; Potter was retrieving the required ingredients rather efficiently, balancing the containers effortlessly on one hand as he reached to scoop up the vial of wormwood.

Draco had no idea exactly how proficient Potter is in Potions, since now he couldn't judge based on past results, and Severus refused to let him read Potter's assignment, he will have to gauge from Potter's behaviour in this class – and frankly, Potter was rather impressive. He had the base knowledge, he could apply it to the instructions and modify the recipe – he suspected the professor included that mistake on purpose to make his point about the difficulty of N.E.W.T. Potions; Draco supposed Potter was actually decent, as opposed to his red-headed, short-tempered friend, although even Weasel seems to have dwindled down a fair bit since the start of the term.

Harry shifted his hold on all the ingredients before turning around, nearly bumping into an anxious Hermione. "Oops, sorry, Hermione."

"Harry," She whispered softly, "Malfoy's not giving you trouble, is he? It's taken you so long to start collecting the ingredients!"

"Malfoy what? Oh, no," Harry couldn't help but smiled, "No, Hermione, we were just looking through the recipe. Don't you trust me not to start a fight now?"

Hermione snorted, "I trust you, Harry, but I don't know if we can trust Malfoy directly now. Light side or not, he's still the same Draco Malfoy that we dealt with for the past five years."

"I'm flattered, Hermione," Harry winked at her before receiving a stern glare, "He's not doing anything- actually he's behaving quite weirdly but he hasn't done or said anything bad to me yet, so don't worry, okay? Even Professor Snape's not horrid to me today."

"If you say so," Hermione sniffed disbelievingly before turning towards the store.

Harry just shook his head affectionately as he made his way to their station, his friends were simply too worrisome. Placing the ingredients on the table, he turned towards Malfoy questioningly, "You take the asphodel, I'll take the Valerian root?"

"Fine with me," Draco shrugged nonchalantly as he reached for the asphodel and the grounding pestle and mortar, he wasn't too picky about preparing potions ingredients; he shared the love for the art with his Godfather ever since he was introduced to potion-making.

Harry nodded as he took the Valerian root and started chopping it into fine chunks, each of approximately the same shape and size, as he spared a glance at the cauldron to check the temperature of the water.

_Potter does handle a silver knife nicely, _Draco noted, _it isn't easy to maintain a consistency in diced ingredients, especially when many of them simply resist the blade._

They worked in companionable silence for a while, adding the ingredients into the cauldron and stirring according to the instructions. The Draught of Living Death itself was not a difficult potion, but it required a fair amount of concentration and control in the preparation of the ingredients, and the slightest mistake in the amount or size of prepared ingredients would affect the consistency and effects of the potion.

"Damn it!" Harry lifted his head from observing the potion's consistency as he heard Malfoy cursing under his breath. "What is it, Malfoy?"

Malfoy met his eyes, looking a little embarrassed albeit his apparent frustration, and muttered softly, "These beans simply won't stay!"

Harry looked at the Sophophorous beans as he checked against the instructions again: _Cut up the Sophophorous beans to collect its juice._ Inclining his head to a side as he pondered, he made a suggestion to Malfoy, "Have you tried crushing it with the blade instead? We only need the juice of the beans, the state of the bean itself shouldn't matter."

"No harm in trying," Malfoy nodded, obviously tired of struggling with the tough texture of the beans, and flipped his knife to press the blade against the beans, almost missing to collect the juice as it oozed out of the beans.

Watching others in the class still attempting to cut up the beans, only to end up with beans flying all over the counter, Draco felt oddly accomplished at the cupful of juice he'd collected. He nodded again to Potter in slight gratitude, "Good suggestion."

Potter simply smiled in reply, adding the sloth brain into the cauldron and watching the potion change from a murky brown to a brilliant blue.

Draco was caught by surprise, Potter had never smiled _at _him for the past five years in Hogwarts – not that he had reason to, either – he had saw him smile at his friends and housemates before, but never looking at it directly. If he had known Potter's smile was so captivating, he wouldn't have behaved that much of a brat before this.

Potter _was_ quite good-looking, he had to admit that the girls talking about him was right, especially when the gossip about Potter being an item heightened since he changed over the summer. His smile softened his features and brightened up his face, a seemingly amused light dancing in his emerald eyes, sending a soothing feeling to those receiving the smile. It wasn't the feeling of being overwhelmed as Daphne's or Pansy's would sometimes give off, when they suddenly had the urge to dress up and groom themselves with plenty of makeup and jewellery, it was just pretty – yes, he knew that's not what someone should use to describe a guy, but Potter was barely the height of the Greengrass sisters anyway – and comfortable.

Wait, was he just – no, he was _not_ sizing Potter up as a potential partner! Draco shook his head, he wasn't particular whether to pick a male or female partner – it all came down to compatibility, after all – but he was not about to start seeking a mate just yet!

"Malfoy?" Potter was giving him a puzzled look as he gestured towards the cauldron, "The Sophophorous beans."

Staring at the bubbling potion, Draco finally realised that he still had the Sophophorous beans juice in his hand and the potion was ready for the next stage. He poured the juice into the cauldron and reached for the glass rod, stirring the potion counter-clockwise seven times.

The colour of the potion gradually lightened and turned into a silvery blue when he finished the seventh stir. He stared hard at the potion, the colour was supposed to be a nearly clear liquid at the end, even silver would be fine, but there shouldn't be a tinge of blue in it. He thought back about the theory behind stirring before looking at Potter, "Do you think adding a clockwise stir would help?"

"Probably," Potter shrugged.

Cautiously adding one more clockwise stir to the mixture, Draco was pleased to see the last shade of blue melting away, leaving the silvery sheen of the potion behind.

Both of them leaned towards the potion to look closer at the mixture, attempting to find out whether all the ingredients have been thoroughly blended, when Draco caught a whiff of Potter's scent – warm, soft, fresh vanilla with a tinge of cinnamon, a slight earthy scent with a muted scent of fiery wood.

_Something was off about it._

"I think it might be the changes in the Valerian root affecting this, would you mind if I repeated the last stirring cycle again?" Potter straightened up, quirking his eyebrow in question.

Draco passed him the glass rod and watched him stir the mixture. He knew something felt wrong about Potter's scent, but he couldn't pinpoint which part of it felt wrong; but it was attractive enough. It was soft and encompassing, distinctive but not overly str- wait, he's not going to compare it to a potential mate!

A Veela's sense of sight and smell is powerful, so they would have to make sure that any potential mate that they decide to Court is pleasing to the Veela in terms of appearance and scent; but Draco was not intending to find a mate this early in life, he had planned to start Courting only after graduation, for Merlin's sake!

Although one of the factors was that he haven't met someone attractive enough and worthy of Courting yet; Potter here seemed to have messed up his plans – he'll have to observe Potter closer than he had planned to now, and see if he could be a potential mate, then. After all, Potter doesn't seem to be as insufferable as he was before.

"Done," Harry declared as he removed the glass rod from the cauldron and laid it on the table, looking at the clear potion with satisfaction. Wondering why Malfoy did not make any comments, he lifted his gaze from the cauldron, only to realise that Malfoy was staring at him with a strange intensity. "Malfoy?"

"What?" Draco snapped back to his senses, and finally lowered his gaze to the cauldron, finding that the potion is at the perfect consistency and colour now. "Good, it looks like what it should be now."

"Mmhmm," Potter's head bobbed up and down once, "The diced Valerian root probably required one more stirring cycle to blend in with the other ingredients, as opposed to the grounded one, I think."

Towards the end of the class, Professor Snape started going around the class to inspect the completed potions, giving comments as he went along.

"Too little asphodel, and the potion is too thick," He looked at the purple liquid in the cauldron disdainfully, "You should be grateful I am not asking you to test the potion yourself."

Sneering at the brownish green potion in another cauldron, he vanished it with a swish of his wand, "_Evanesco_. A complete mess – have you not read the instructions beyond the first two lines, you imbeciles? _Pitiful_."

Almost everyone's potion suffered Professor's Snape quiet wrath – about dunderheads and imbeciles being unable to follow instructions decently – with Hermione's and Greengrass' potion receiving the least scrutiny before he moved towards Harry's and Malfoy's station.

Gathering a ladle of the clear liquid, he inspected the potion closely, checking its consistency, colour and smell, finally giving a tiny nod of acknowledgement and the slightest hint of satisfaction, "Very well, bottle this up and submit it to my desk."

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, both of you will submit a 2 feet essay on the changes you made to the instructions and explain your reasons clearly," Turning back towards the whole class, "The rest of you are to submit a 2 feet essay on what went wrong about your potion, and to find out what are the mistakes that I have included in the instructions written on the board; due next Friday. Class dismissed."

After they cleared up the station after submitting the labelled vials to the professor's desk, Harry reached into his book satchel and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Malfoy, "Malfoy, this is the notice about the arrangement of DA sessions. Could you put it up in the Slytherin common room? The first meeting is Monday night, your Father has already approved the schedule and spell lists."

Malfoy nodded slightly as he took the parchment, reading the contents swiftly before keeping it into his own bag, "See you after lunch then, Potter." The lesson after lunch is a Gryffindor-Slytherin Charms class.

Harry smiled and nodded before striding gracefully out of the classroom.

"I see what you and Lucius meant now," Severus said softly as the classroom was emptied, "Potter has changed, quite a lot too."

Draco smirked, "And he was unsettled by the fact that you haven't taken points off him."

Severus merely raised his eyebrow in response, "You were more unsettled than Potter was, Draco."

Draco frowned, "Was it that obvious?"

"Even Potter knew that you were staring, do not try to convince me that you did not see him giving you weird looks, Draco," To tell the truth, Severus was rather amused, it has been a long time since he saw his Godson gaping at something or someone, "What happened?"

Deciding to keep the potential mate part to himself – he would never hear the end of it if his parents caught wind of that news, not that they weren't supportive, but just overwhelming sometimes – he answered, "When we were both looking over the cauldron, I caught his scent. He smelled- I'm not sure, but something about his scent wasn't right."

"What do you mean?" Severus frowned.

"It's just-um- like something wasn't supposed to be there?" Draco shrugged, "I only felt it for a moment, I'm not too sure about it."

"I see," Severus nodded, "We may need to keep an eye out, just in case it meant something."

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**This chapter is a bit shorter, as would the next chapter, but I promise that the ones on the revelation of the Sanctuary will be much longer than this!**

**Review, please?**

**YUU**


	7. Setting the Rules

**Sorry for the late update :S I've been busy with interviews for my project... and I still have another mid-term test to come next week ToT**

**This chapter is mainly about the DA, and there's a large part on Harry elaborating on his views on House traits and rivalry. It's not extremely important, just that Harry emphasises it as a main part of his values and ideals for DA. If anyone finds this part boring, you can actually skip it, and wait for the next chapter - think of it as leading up to changing and shaping the Slytherins' view of Harry.**

**For my dearest reviewers: *muacks* I love you all!**

**charm13insomnia, littlesprout, aliengirlguy - Thanks! I'm trying my best to keep the standards :D**

**Stardust of Orion - Since I'm envisioning that both Harry and Draco are more mature than canon, they are supposed to work together well :S for the last chapter it's still very tentative, but in the upcoming chapters they'll have a better relationship. For Severus, I think he mainly just needs a chance to see Harry as Harry, and not Potter.**

**Angel-Miyu, KendaO, Cherrie-san - Yupp, Draco's veela simply loves Harry :) and I really think that the rivalry between the both of them could very well be sexual tension *kekeke***

**Transaper - Thank you :D Hmmm actually the secret behind writing this foursome pairing is... I simply couldn't decide which I prefer :S So I thought I might as well just put them all together muahahaha**

**yngoldfogee - Thanks! I'm hoping that mid-terms end soon, but then I'll be worrying about finals...**

**Phaedra Coopers - sloth brain... to tell the truth, I won't be able to stand using the potion when I know what has gone into it... but well, took me a long time to figure out how to write the potion-making process...**

**Gracealma - I'll secretly tell you... the next one to actually notice/sniff Harry would be Lucius, but it won't be very soon... still have to get the Sanctuary explanation out of the way!**

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**Chapter Seven: Setting the Rules**

Harry surveyed the room setup that the Room of Requirement has provided upon his request for a place for the DA meeting; there were several bookshelves of books on the topic of Defence at the end of the room, and there were a couple of soft pillows and dummies at both sides of the room, but most of the part of the room was just left empty.

Ron shook his head in exasperation as Hermione darted off immediately towards the books, while Neville turned to look at Harry, "How did the talk with the First and Second Years go?"

"They were quite upset at the beginning," Harry conjured cushions so that the members could sit comfortably when they arrived, "but after explaining about the instability of immature magical core and possible risks, I think they were accepting in the end."

Ron snorted, "Accepting? You should have seen their faces, Neville, they practically worshipped Harry after his little speech with them."

Neville quirked his brow, only Ron accompanied Harry for his talk with the First and Second Years, Hermione had consultation with her Arithmancy professor, while he had to help out at the greenhouses, so both of them were clueless about how Harry managed to convince the lower years.

"They did no such thing, Ron," Harry glared half-heartedly at him, "They just understood the consequences and backed off."

"Seriously, Harry, they were like Creevy multiplied in number!" Ron exclaimed, flailing his arms wildly, "You should have seen it, Neville! Those First and Second Years were staring at Harry like he's some beacon of light when he was talking about the theory, and then when he was talking about inter-house rivalry – can you believe it, even those slimy little snakes were ogling him half the time!"

"Ron…" Harry tried to stop him but Neville was faster, "So _that_ was why all attention was on Harry during breakfast today, then? I thought we missed something big about Harry in the Daily Prophet…"

Harry rolled his eyes and refused to answer. He had had enough of being stared at without the First and Second Years adding fuel to it, thank you very much! And it wasn't as if he did something great… Just a bit of magical theory background on magical cores, and a little persuasion thrown in back there, why on earth were they so affected by it?!

Casting a _tempus_ and checking the time, he ignored Ron who winked at him and spoke to Neville instead, "Ginny will be bringing the Gryffindors here, and Luna and Ernie will be leading the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs here. I'll go and show the Slytherins the way. Try to control Ron a bit, would you, Neville? And…" Glancing at Hermione who was still immersed in whatever book she had in hand, "please get Hermione to prepare the namelist and the fake coins. Merlin knows how to pry her away from those books…"

Neville made a face and nodded, "No problem, I'll just… _try_. Be careful though, Harry."

"Yeah, if the Slytherins do something…" Ron added.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Harry rolled his eyes again as he walked towards the door.

Really, he had to try to find a way to make his friends less worrisome. Yes, it is nice having someone caring about you, but this was simply exhausting… He just hoped that the meeting today will show them that _everyone_ can get along just fine… at least he hoped that no one would try to hurt and kill another off or something.

Sighing softly as he made a turn to the dungeons, he saw Draco Malfoy, his father and a group of Slytherins waiting near their dormitory entrance.

"Mr. Potter," Lucius Malfoy greeted him.

Harry nodded to them, "Professor Malfoy," Turning towards the other Slytherins, he continued, "Good evening. I don't know if all of you know how to access the Room of Requirement, so I'll bring you there for this time."

Gesturing for them to follow him, he started making his way back to the Room on the seventh floor. Telling the others to stay there for a moment, he paced in front of the Room three times as some of the Slytherins gave him weird looks, before the door appeared.

Just as he opened the door, he heard a muffled shout and a red beam of light sped towards him, forcing him to duck instinctively before remembering that the entire group of Slytherins were behind him. Raising his wand, he erected a shield and quickly dissipated the spell.

Harry moved aside to allow the Slytherins to enter the door before going into the room and closing the door. He whisked around and sent a death glare to the group already present in the room, "Who thought that it was a great idea to fire a spell towards anyone who was entering the room just now?"

His tone was deadly cold as he stared at the others, his emerald eyes glowing in silent rage as he asked again, "Who was it?"

"It was Mclaggen," Neville provided the name, as he and Ron struggled to restrain the large boy to the wall, "I'm sorry, Harry, we couldn't stop him from casting in time…"

Turning towards the Slytherins, he gave a soft comment to "get yourselves comfortable" before stalking towards Mclaggen, pinning him with a cold stare, "Why did you do that?"

Mclaggen showed no sign of guilt as he huffed a response, "You countered the spell just fine, and everyone else except the Slytherins are here anyway, what harm could it have done?"

The look on Harry's face immediately made it clear to everyone else in the room that it was a _very_ wrong answer.

"What harm could it have done?" Harry's voice was soft, but carried through the room with a frozen edge, "A cutting hex powered too strongly can rip a limb, aimed carelessly can take out an eye or ear, chanted inaccurately can even kill. Are you prepared for the consequences, Mclaggen? Can you bear the guilt of impairing someone permanently simply because you were ignorant for a moment? Are you willing to be called a 'murderer'? Can you live while knowing that you destroyed a person's dreams and wishes, that you ripped a family apart? _You have no idea, Mclaggen_."

Mclaggen gulped nervously as Harry stepped closer. He was much taller and larger than Harry physically, but the raw magic and pressure stemming from the raven-haired teenager was overpowering him.

"Consider this a warning, Mclaggen," Harry continued, his gazed fixed onto Mclaggen's fearful eyes, "Next time something like this happens again, I will not dissipate the spell; I will simply reflect it. Maybe that will help you learn to think before you act."

Turning back towards the crowd, he continued speaking in a gentler tone, "Perhaps I should make some of the rules clear before anything else. Firstly, there will be no House rivalry within the DA. It doesn't matter whether you're from Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, you're all members of the DA. I will not tolerate silly fights between members of DA themselves, or between members and other students in the school. I don't care whether you have a grudge against someone else, or someone wronged you, sort it out without insults and fights. All DA members will help and support each other. Any questions about this?"

A Third Year Hufflepuff raised her hand timidly, "But- but no one would really want to help us, nobody really cares about Hufflepuffs anyway…"

Harry stared at her for a moment before sighing, "I've talked about this with the First and Second Years yesterday, but I guess I'll have to say it to you all as well."

Hermione and Neville eagerly shifted to make space for him on the couch, accidentally pushing Ron off his seat. They muttered their apologies with eyes still locked on Harry – they were _really really _ curious about Harry's little speech (as advertised by Ron).

Harry sat down and swept a glance at everyone, "Tell me, what _is _Gryffindor, Colin?"

"Courage!" Colin piped out cheerfully.

He gave a small smile before turning to Parkinson, "And what is Gryffindor for you, Parkinson?"

Parkinson hesitated for a moment but decided to be honest, "Impulsive, reckless."

"Then tell me, Malfoy, what is the Slytherin pride?"

"Observant, self-preservation," Malfoy answered without a thought.

Harry nodded, and asked casually, "And you, Ron? What did you think about Slytherins before?"

Ron stared at Harry before blushing as he answered truthfully, "Cowardly, Dark and evil."

"There is no definite description for all Houses, it is a matter of perspective – there is always two sides to the coin," Harry swirled his wand and conjured crests of the four houses in the air, "Gryffindors pride themselves for courage and determination. But what is courage when it stands _alone_? Bravery without brains is simply recklessness, without loyalty is aimless, without self-preservation is suicidal. A lion is only strong when it belongs to a pride, knowing who and what to defend, and when to back down. Do you always have to charge ahead to be brave? Must you fight your fears to be courageous? No, sometimes bravery is to acknowledge your fears and to try to avoid it. Why do you fear something, or someone? Because you instinctively know that it is dangerous in itself, or it may harm your family and friends, or simply because it may kill you."

He manipulated the conjured images to change as he spoke, "Think of the House Crest, silver complements gold," The golden lion shimmered brightly as the silvery snake slithered around it, "Blue complements red," The fiery red background flared as the calm blue encompassed it, "and flames renew the earth," The brilliant red shone brightly for a moment before dulling and the Hufflepuff yellow became a brilliant hue.

"Slytherins describe themselves as ambitious, cunning and with a strong sense of self-preservation. How can you be ambitious without the courage to seek what you want? How do you find cunningness without intelligence? And how to you persevere without someone to support and live for? Some would accuse them of being cowardly for they think snakes slither away and hide in times of danger, but think again, the serpent would strike fast and hard when time needs be, it is relentless in battle when it matters."

Harry conjured a swirling ball of light mixed with darkness, "Being Dark is not evil, Dark is the energy, evil is the intent. Even the label 'Dark' no longer refers to the magical energy itself, it has been given arbitrary boundaries by the Ministry, equating Dark to evil. Some forbidden Dark spells are better healing spells than Light ones, but so difficult to master that it has been categorised as Dark to prevent people from trying it. Perhaps Slytherins simply have a better affinity to master these spells than we do. The intent is most important – one could kill using a Light spell if you intend to do so, and you could save a life with a Dark spell if you want to."

"And Ravenclaws, they are proud of their learning and wisdom. But you need courage to face your failures to gain wisdom; a sore loser never learns; you have to be ambitious to yearn for learning, and you have to be loyal to ensure knowledge applied well in motive. The eagle is the lord of the skies, it is a strong-willed predator, but even it does not know the limits of the skies, neither does it know the wonders of the earth, so it depends on other beings to impart that knowledge, and it perseveres to survive harsh conditions.

"Hufflepuffs are known for patience, humility and loyalty. Perhaps some people think that Hufflepuffs are not particularly strong at any trait, but that in itself proves them to be a formidable opponent. They have no apparent strength, so you don't know what to expect when you face them in a battle, and you may easily overlook their powers, giving them the element of surprise. They are patient and humble, making learning a much easier and efficient task for them; they are loyal, so they may be the best comrades you wish to have."

The images combined to continually shift and melt into each other's image, "Simply said, your house trait is just one of the many strengths and weaknesses that you possess, only that it may be somewhat more prominent than the others. Of course, it could also be a result of moulding after you socialise with your housemates for seven years. But would you want to confine yourself to the strict boundaries of house traits when you can gain so much more by combining them while emphasising yours?"

Harry paused for a moment, pleased to see many faces in deep thought, "So there will be _no_ house rivalry within the DA; you can be a Gryffindor, but at the same time, you are also partially Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The same goes for everyone else. Have I made myself clear?"

After receiving nods from them, Harry continued, his tone apparently much lighter than before, "Good, then for the other rules: Everyone must be responsible for their own learning, once you have made a commitment, you have to follow through. You must not gossip around about what we do in the DA, I'd like to keep only those really interested in learning Defence involved in these matters. No one is to use any spell learnt here with the intention to harm someone else unless it is a life and death situation – definitely not during practice or as pranks. If you think that you cannot abide to the rules, you may leave now, or else you will sign the parchment with your name and confirm your commitment to the DA."

Hermione passed the parchment, already adorned with Harry's, Neville's, Ron's and her own signatures, around for members to sign their names.

As the first person picked up the quill, Harry hastily added, "Oh and just a warning here, that parchment is charmed. If you signed and went against the rules, we will know because the charms on the parchment will point it out to everyone. Don't worry, you won't find yourselves with the word 'SNEAK' over your faces, we've decided on a less obtrusive method."

Some of the previous DA members snickered at the memory but most of the students in the room signed without hesitation.

As Hermione checked the list of names against people in the room, Ron and Neville started passing out the list of spells that will be practiced for the first few session.

Harry started explaining to them how the sessions are going to work, "For this session, I'll need to divide all of you into beginner, intermediate and advanced groups to moderate the learning speed; I'll test you on some of the basic spells and assign you to a group – hopefully, no Seventh Year will end up in the beginner's group, you do have to take your N.E.W.T.s, you know. So, let's-"

"These are all defensive-only spells, it's useless!"

Harry narrowed his eyes as he turned towards the source of the voice – Zacharias Smith. "What did you say?"

"What's the use of learning these when you can't even attack your opponent?" Smith sneered, "You can't keep defending yourself in a battle, you'll die in the end anyway."

Harry gave him an assessing glance before breaking into a cool smile, "Then let's try this. Let's have a duel, you may use any spells of your choice, and I'll only use defensive spells. We'll see how it ends then."

_Everything was going according to plan_.

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**Read and Review, please! Reviews motivate my inspiration xp**

**YUU**


	8. Secrets Revealed

**Here's Chapter Eight, the Sanctuary will be revealed in the next Chapter! (*phew* I've made it here!) But I'll have to say that I'll need more time before the next update... why are assignments always lined up to be due almost at the same date?**

**The time jump in this chapter may seem a little abrupt (I actually thought of stopping this chapter before the time jump, but I figured that probably wouldn't satisfy my readers...), but there will be some references back to this time period in future chapters, especially when it comes to writing about the Slytherins' feelings towards Harry.**

**aliengirlguy, Phaedra Coopers, littlesprout, Salinia, tgsoccer, angelallie 15, TheSamurai'sRose, charm13insomnia, remyqueen74 - glad that you like it! I'm trying my best!**

**Transaper - Interhouse unity is one of the things that Harry would be trying to achieve in school, especially in the DA. There will be more specific actions that he will adopt in the future, but the speech is all there is for now :) Lucius' reactions is in this chapter, but I'm skipping Draco's, since Lucius' is more important now to establish Harry's leader position. I see I'm quite successful at making Smith the bad guy here ;D? My tests... I just hate statistics...**

**adenoide - Um... well, the reasons for Harry's improvement in potions skills will have to wait till the revelation of the Sanctuary and Harry's inheritance, but part of it is also the result of Harry reading the books from Grimmauld Place and his textbook over the summer... Mmhmm, Harry is definitely a good leader, but part of it is also because he had good mentors (to be revealed) too!**

**Gracealma - Yupp, Harry has learnt a lot and matured a lot too over the summer :D He will be showing even more of that eventually.**

**Stardust of Orion - Haha XD I also didn't like the both of them in canon, that's why they're bad guys here :) Since Harry threatened McLaggen, he wouldn't be trying anything else, but Smith... let's just say he'll have some more appearance in one of the future chapters...**

**AstroNeko3000 - This is a fanfiction that I've written purely out of interest and love for HP, and for fun. I'm not writing this for a request, nor am I writing this as an assignment. This means that I write it as I like it and as I envision it to progress. Perhaps it is boring for you, but I'm not forcing you to read it. Most stories aren't original, and I admit that mine is inspired by a lot of other fics as well, but it is nearly impossible to have an original fiction nowadays - similarity in concept does not mean similarity in storyline or character development, and that is the most important thing. If you want an original fanfic, please write your own, instead of blaming my lack thereof. If you don't like my style of writing, or if you don't appreciate my story, just don't read it, and don't bother to leave your comment either.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Secrets Revealed**

Lucius had to admit there was simply no end to the surprises that Potter keeps springing onto them – he was just prepared to counter the cutting hex when Potter made a motion to duck, but then he didn't have a chance to do anything because Potter righted himself upwards again and dissipated the spell.

Reflex was one thing, but to inhibit the natural response to move out of harm's way in a split second decision was extremely difficult, especially for these inexperienced young children.

And the amount of magical power that he released unconsciously as he confronted that boy – Mclaggen, was it? – was almost… _intoxicating_. Power was attractive to all magical beings, to simply be in the presence of a magically strong person or being was the utmost pleasure for wizards and witches sensitive to raw magic. Not to mention the ease of magical manipulation he displayed when he was talking about the four houses, all these signalled that Potter is an extremely powerful wizard.

The puzzling fact was that Lucius had never felt such a strong pulse of magic from the boy before. Of course, children at this age have a constantly growing magical core, but the increase in power should be gradual, even with the magical boost at the age of sixteen, it shouldn't have been such an easily observable difference.

The confidence he exuded as he elaborated his thoughts on the four houses and their identity easily captured the attention in the room, combined with his thoughtful arguments and magical display, was beyond sufficient to enforce his position as a leader within this group – apparently Lucius' role in this setting was simply to legitimise the group and its proceedings, he probably wouldn't have to engage in teaching or much actual monitoring at all.

And now this Smith is challenging Potter? Are Ravenclaws nowadays this ignorant? Lucius shook his head in bemusement; that Ravenclaw boy was going to learn his lesson the hard way – Lucius had little doubt that Potter would make an example out of him.

"Professor, would you mind overseeing the duel?" Potter inclined his head towards him and asked.

Lucius raised his brows as he withdrew his wand, "It would be my pleasure, Mr. Potter."

Potter gave a quick circling motion of his wand as Lucius moved closer to the pair, only when Lucius looked carefully that he realised the youth had casted _Protego Totalum _around the other students non-verbally.

Each taking three steps back, Potter and Smith bowed towards each other slightly. Lucius was rather impressed by the stance Potter adopted – an equal distribution of weight on both sides, and majority of it focused on the balls of his feet, enabling him to move in any direction at ease.

Potter shifted his body slightly to dodge the cutting hex sent his way, and a few more spells after that, always side-stepping the path of the spell with a fair amount of grace – unlike his opponent who was already showing a mixture of frustration and slight exhaustion at casting multiple spells continually.

"Damn it, Potter! Stop dodging and hiding! Fight back!" Smith snarled as he threw a fire spell towards him.

Potter smiled nonchalantly and conjured a _Protego_ shield in front of himself, blocking out the flames. Shrugging his shoulders as the fire spell ended, "I was going to wait till you tire and end the duel, but since you say so, Smith…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but leapt forward without warning, conjuring multiple shields to surround his body as Smith reacted to his sudden movement by flinging more spells towards him. Strengthening the shield directly in front of him, the body bind hex rebounded on the blue surface and caught its caster instead, immobilising Smith who didn't have enough time to dodge or counter the spell.

The shields surrounding Potter dissolved as he stopped in front of Smith, the tip of his wand pointing at his opponent's throat, "Do you yield, Smith?"

Smith swallowed nervously as he eyed the holly wand aiming at his throat, nodding furiously – probably the only part of his body that can still move at will.

"Good," Potter withdrew his wand and dissipated the spells, turning towards the other members as he spoke, "If any of you disagree with my decisions, you can choose to challenge me right now, or choose to leave the DA now, I can still spell your name off the list if you decide to withdraw now."

Most of the younger years were staring at Potter in awe, but some of the older students – mainly the Sixth and Seventh Year Slytherins – turned to look at Lucius for his opinion on the situation.

Deciding to make his position in the DA clear to the members, and as an extra bonus, to stay on Potter's good side, Lucius declared a non-interference stance: "Mr. Potter has been granted full authority over the organisation and training of the DA by the Headmaster. I am merely here as an advisory role, and frankly speaking, I have not found fault with Mr. Potter's decision so far."

Lucius could see an almost immediate softening of the hard glint in Potter's gaze as he acknowledged his leadership position in the DA – the sparkle in his emerald eyes made his slight appreciative smile seem a lot more wider and youthful, yet retaining a level of respect to be given to a professor.

He couldn't stop the corners of his lips from twitching – for someone showing such maturity as Potter had for the past few days, he was rather _cute _when it came to emotional expressions, especially when he was glad, just as he usually is with the Weasley children and that Granger girl.

* * *

Harry was in a relatively good mood as he continued to explain the organisation and plans for the DA sessions to come in these few weeks – he hadn't expected that Lucius Malfoy would actually recognise his authority over the running of DA as publicly as that; well, he didn't really trust Professor Dumbledore's promise in the first place anyway.

All those adults had a weird fixation on "preserving his innocence", forbidding him to ask or participate in important "adult matters", and refusing to disclose any information that they thought was too complicated for him and his friends to handle. As if he even had any naivety or childish innocence left after growing up with the Dursleys, or after his multiple encounters with Voldemort since he entered Hogwarts, or… after he lost his Godfather.

Even the Order guards their information so jealously, only releasing bite-size information that was close to nothing to Harry and his friends – as if that was useful in preparing him for the battle against Voldemort in the near future. So much for the adoration and expectations given to Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived! What can he do if he didn't even have access to relevant information and battle training?!

He had thought that a family head coming from a traditional pureblood family would adopt a similar stance, but it seems that he had thought wrong. Lucius Malfoy was more accepting than he had imagined, and to know that there was some sort of trust given to him made him feel all warm and fuzzy inwardly.

Perhaps he should try to foster a better and functional relationship with Lucius Malfoy to learn more about pureblood customs and traditions? But he hadn't even managed to try to reconcile previous differences with Professor Snape yet – although the man seems to have gotten over his biases and was treating him quite civilly. He really had his work cut out for him this year…

"To make things easier for everyone, we will divide all members into three groups according to your knowledge and grasp of spells. Ginny and Luna will be in-charge of the basic level group, focusing on learning and channelling spells; Neville, Ron and Hermione will take over the intermediate level group, perfecting the control and expanding your spell repertoire; and I will be responsible for the training of the advanced level group, mainly on changing the spell forms and actual battling techniques, under Professor Malfoy's guidance."

Hermione, spotting the disappointed looks on the faces of some of the younger students, interrupted him, "Harry will be attending all sessions and giving advice even if he is not actively teaching you. Don't worry."

Harry gave her an accusing glare before nodding his head in agreement, "Yes, yes, although I have no idea why you even want me there anyway… We will start with defensive spells and eventually move on to offensive spells depending on the group's progress in general."

Handing the duty of explanation over to Hermione as she started elaborating on the skills testing, Harry quietly retreated back to where Ron and Neville both stood.

"Fine, Harry," Ron reluctantly admitted as he saw Harry coming towards them, "I guess the Slytherins aren't that bad after all. Maybe- _maybe_ we could work together…"

Neville grinned widely, "Finally, Ron! Took you that long to admit it!"

"But I still don't like the Slytherins!" Ron added hurriedly, "Really, the things I'm willing to do for you, mate…"

"I know, I know, Ron," Harry just waved his hand dismissively, "I'll make sure to remember all your contributions, okay? But somehow I feel that you have made a lot more sacrifices for Hermione than any of us, Ron… something about private shopping and hanging out in a _girls-only _cafe?"

"Oi! That has nothing to do with this, Harry!" Ron bellowed as his ears turned a bright red, attracting the attention of a few students nearby.

Neville and Harry just burst out in laughter seeing that their friend was slowly turning red all over, until Ron muttered irritably under his breath, "Just wait till the both of you find someone you really like, then I'll get my chance to make fun of you!"

"Oh no, Ron, I don't think I'll be in that position anytime soon," Harry turned down his laughter to a slight chortle.

"Just you wait," Ron continued mumbling as Hermione ordered the few of them to help out with the actual grouping of the members, "just you wait."

* * *

**_One and a half months later, mid-October._**

It has become a habit for Lucius, Severus and Draco to gather in Lucius' quarters every Wednesday and Saturday night to discuss and share information from Speaker, ever since the mysterious sender made it a custom of sending letters and replies on the specific days of the week. Harry Potter, on the other hand, had become one of the common topics of discussion between these three men before the arrival of the letters due to certain interesting developments at Hogwarts.

The unexpected and intriguing growing relationship between Harry Potter and some of the Slytherins in school – including Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape – has become the hottest gossip topic in school, and the common theme for the three Slytherins to tease each other with, and this particular discussion seems to have extended to Narcissa who have been dropping by infrequently when she needed to talk about Speaker's letters.

Narcissa placed her teacup neatly back onto the saucer after taking delicate sips, "I have heard that there is a growing intimacy between the lions and snakes in Hogwarts, or should I say, Harry Potter and the snakes, in particular? And I seem to recall an exponential increase in the mention of 'Harry Potter' in your letters, Draco?"

Draco was the first to break under her intense questioning gaze, "… We have been spending more time around each other, Harry is my potions partner, after all."

"Harry?" Narcissa's eyebrows raised, intrigued.

"Um- W-we are potions partners and both in DA, it's just natural that we start calling each other by our given names!" Draco's cheek turned a slight pink, "Even Father addresses Harry by his given name!"

"Oh, really, Lucius?" Narcissa turned her gaze towards her former husband, eyes twinkling in amusement.

Lucius maintained a cool look, "I have been meeting him quite a few times for discussing about DA and actual training, it is probably better to have a good relationship."

Severus gave up on resisting as Narcissa turned her gentle gaze upon him, "He does show some intelligence, and he is quite helpful… but we are not getting all warm and cozy over names."

Narcissa tapped her knees lightly as she pondered, for all three of them to get over their Slytherin-Gryffindor biases to acknowledge the Golden Boy was quite an amazing feat; her interest in Harry Potter was growing by the minute. "So tell me, how is Harry Potter like in person? Is he really the Gryffindor Golden boy, or is he as arrogant as Severus used to mention?"

Feeling his Mother's gaze fixed on him, Draco knew that he had no chance of getting away without giving her a satisfying answer, "Well, Harry is rather… sweet," Upon catching his Mother's amused look, he quickly elaborated, "I-I mean, Harry really doesn't like the fame and popularity of his name, he hates it when someone tries to use his name to gain a favour or likewise. He is sensitive to others' emotions and offers support or silence accordingly, and he tries to accommodate everyone's wishes – to the extent that he neglects himself at times – which frustrates all of us to no end, but that all just makes him so…"

"Irresistibly sweet?" Narcissa was amused by Draco's attempts to explain his feelings, "I understand, Draco."

Deciding to save Draco from his highly embarrassed state, and seeing that Severus was merely smirking at the flustered state of his Godson, Lucius voiced his own opinions, "I agree, Harry is indeed quite charming. He is unusually mature for his age in terms of knowledge and thoughts, but sometimes his emotions come forward in a relatively uninhibited way that is so cute and naïve, the complete trust and reliance… It is a wonder that none of the students have snagged him for themselves yet. I am sure that you will like him, Cissy, it is impossible not to."

Narcissa's eyes widened slightly: to gain such compliments from a Malfoy, Harry Potter must really have a wondrous charm; and to neutralise previous rivalry, his changes must have been pleasantly drastic… Although the way both Lucius and Draco described the boy seems to suggest _a particular kind of interest_, not that any of them have seem to realise that yet.

"Do you think so, Severus?"

"I will admit that Potter is sharp in potions, and very observant in brewing and research. He knows when to speak and when to keep quiet – something I would not have thought possible for him in the past five years," Severus would rather die than admit that he enjoyed the awe and dependence expressed by Potter when they were working together on new potions experiments, especially that one time when Potter accidentally fell asleep while waiting for the stirring time – he was absolutely adorable in his half-awake state – not that Severus would ever say that, anyway.

Even the time when Potter came to his door and asked to talk about their unpleasant encounters for the past five years, he had found the boy to be rather endearing. He still remembered Potter shifting his gaze from left to right, refusing to meet his gaze directly, only when Severus allowed him into the room that Potter looked up, very much like a frightful deer; and when they talked further about their impressions of each other and apologised for their own faults (one of the rare times that Severus would actually admit and apologise for being biased), Harry had a relaxed smile that spelled his contentment at resolving the awkward tension between them – a change of impression really opened his eyes to the likeable nature of Harry Potter, but that is something he'll keep to himself… for now.

Draco frowned as he thought about his observations of Harry in the past month, "But Harry sometimes act weirdly… Have you seen it, Father? He flinches every time someone touches him unexpectedly, but after he gets familiar with the specific person, he seems to enjoy human touch a lot… And he eats so little, we realised that when he joined us at the Slytherin table; once he tried to eat more than usual, he threw up everything a while later. Granger and Weasley mentioned that he had a lot of nightmares as well, apparently sleeping draughts don't work that well for him."

Severus' brows furrowed as he listened to Draco's description, the symptoms sounded eerily familiar; but Albus has never mentioned anything unusual about the boy's muggle household, so he assumed that Potter was pampered at home… If Potter's symptoms really pointed to the fact that he was reluctant to believe, then…

Lucius nodded his head grimly and added, "I have noticed that he had a strange reverence towards authority as well; he gets all too formal and distant at certain points of our conversation, and he looks as though he would like nothing more to lash out at the Headmaster and McGonagall at times."

Narcissa was worried – she could see the signs of an abused child from their descriptions, a child whose needs were never fulfilled when he needed it, a child who has never learnt to trust adults, a fearful child. And to think that this was the same child that was charming, cute and sweet from their previous descriptions, and the knowledge that he had lost his parents _and _Godfather… it broke her heart, even without knowing Harry Potter personally.

A sudden noise at the windows broke the grim silence, they turned to see a frantic Gryfalcon and Harris Hawk beating at the glass wildly, their feathers ruffled and messy as if they just went through an assault.

"Helwiyr?"

"Foiy?"

Foiy was the Harris Hawk that was assigned to bring Draco's letters after he had sworn allegiance and secrecy to the mysterious letters.

Lucius strode across the room in a few steps and opened the window, watching the birds fly into the room and flapping their wings around agitatedly, followed by a faint swoosh as two other Golden Eagles flew into the room.

"What happened?" Severus frowned as he looked at Gryaif. There was no letter attached to the leg of the eagle, but it kept circling the room in clear panic, just as the other birds were.

Narcissa tried to calm Fuyd down but to no avail, "Something must have gone wrong… but what is it?"

Lucius tried to get closer to Helwiyr but was distracted by the knock on his doors, Severus who was closest to the door went to answer the door.

To his surprise, it was Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley standing at the door, shuffling their feet nervously as they looked at Severus. Chancing a glance at the situation in the room across Severus' shoulders, Longbottom spoke before Severus could tell him to come later.

"Professor Snape, we-" Longbottom was nudged harshly in his ribs by Weasley, after exchanging a look, his expression became much more solemn, "We are Strangers to these lands, Viper. I am Larkspur. Speaker needs your help, _now_."

Severus was stunned at the revelation – Longbottom was part of the Sanctuary? And if Weasley knew about it, it is highly likely that he was a member of it as well… Narcissa stepped forward, seeing that Severus was too overwhelmed to answer the boys at the door, "What happened?"

Longbottom paused for a moment before addressing her, a tinge of fear and panic starting to surface in his tone, "Persephone! Please, Speaker is wounded badly, and we have absolutely no idea what to do to save him!"

Lucius placed a firm grip on Draco's shoulders and directed him towards the door, realising that the birds have flown out of the room a moment ago, "Lead the way, Larkspur."

Longbottom nodded and both him and Weasley started running towards the stairs, making sure that all four of them are following in pace, making their way up to the seventh floor, leading up to the Room of Requirement. The birds which took off earlier were hovering before the door, cawing angrily and beating their wings against the blank wall.

"Stop it, he's not getting any better even if you break down the wall!" Weasley shouted at the birds, successfully getting them to move backwards and leave the wall in peace.

Longbottom walked past the corridor three times and a wooden door with a brass handle appeared immediately, as his hand landed on the door knob, he looked at the four Slytherins and requested, "No matter what you see later, ju-just save him before you ask any questions."

Not even waiting for their response, he twisted the knob and opened the door, stepping inside anxiously and rushing towards the couch in the middle of the room.

The four of them coming through the door was shocked at the scene meeting their eyes – Harry Potter was lying there, his shirt and the couch beneath him covered with his blood, two huge gashes slashed across his chest, his body convulsing under shock and the loss of blood, restrained only by the House Elf Dobby and the two boys who have just rushed to his side; with Granger desperately spelling vials of what seemed to be Blood Replenishers directly into his body.

"Harry, can you hear me?" Granger's voice was hoarse and full of fear, "Please Harry, can you hear me? You have to fight the curse, _please_!"

Severus and Lucius immediately strode over to the boy, studying the curse that is causing the wound to resist healing stubbornly. Narcissa stared in pure terror at the youth's face twisted in pain and agony before coming back to her senses, taking off her charmed necklace and winding it around his neck. Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and pinned them down as the boy almost clawed himself in the confusion of pain and physical shock.

"Lucius, have you seen this before?" Severus carefully tried different forms of healing spells on Potter, knitting his brows tightly when he observed that the wounds opened up almost immediately after the spell stitched it up, "… it is a dark curse."

"Yes, apparently it prevents the wounds from healing up…" Lucius looked closer at the gashes for a while, before tightening his lips, "I have never seen this curse before; we will need to transfer the curse onto another medium if the countercurse is unknown to us now. Is there anything in this room that has been touched by Harry's magic?"

Granger grabbed a locket from the table and pushed it onto Lucius' outstretched palm, "Can this work? He just charmed this!"

Lucius frowned slightly as he looked at the locket – the design and spells on the trinket was surprisingly familiar – but prepared to use the transfer spell nonetheless after checking that the locket still had fresh traces of Harry's magic. Waiting for Severus to ready his wand, he gave the surrounding students a stern look, "There has better be a good explanation for all of this later."

Granger casted a nervous glance at both Weasley and Longbottom before nodding solemnly, "We understand, Moonshine."

* * *

**Again, the time jump may be a little abrupt, but there will be references back to this time frame in the future, and there really isn't much to write about it, since the preconceived notions that Harry and the Slytherins have of each other have been erased, it'll just be normal everyday life with growing understanding formed between them; though I might write an extra chapter about it as an add-on in the future.**

**YUU**


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